Northern Ireland national netball team


The Northern Ireland national netball team represents Netball Northern Ireland in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Netball at the Commonwealth Games and the Netball Europe Open Championships. Northern Ireland have won the 2009 and 2015 Netball Singapore Nations Cups. As of 1 December 2025, Northern Ireland are listed 14th on the World Netball Rankings.

Early tests

The Northern Ireland national netball team has been active since the early 1950s. On 12 May 1951, when Scotland hosted their first home international, they defeated Northern Ireland 21–7 in Glasgow. Northern Ireland shooter, Peggy Curran, injured her ligaments in the first five minutes of the match and had to be flown home. On 31 October 1953, Northern Ireland hosted Scotland for the first time, losing 19–10. During the 1950s, Northern Ireland played Scotland six times. In 1954, Northern Ireland played England for the first time.

Tournament history

Netball World Cup

Northern Ireland played in the inaugural 1963 World Netball Championships and finished in 11th place. Their best performance in the tournament came in 1983 when they finished seventh. In 2019 Northern Ireland played in their twelfth Netball World Cup.
TournamentsPlace
1963 World Netball Championships11th
1971 World Netball Championships8th
1975 World Netball Championships9th
1979 World Netball Championships17th
1983 World Netball Championships7th
1987 World Netball Championships10th
1991 World Netball Championships12th
1995 World Netball Championships18th
1999 World Netball Championships16th
2003 World Netball Championships19th
2011 World Netball Championships8th
2019 Netball World Cup10th

Commonwealth Games

In [Netball at the Netball at the 2014 Commonwealth Games|2014 Commonwealth Games|2014], Northern Ireland made their debut at the Commonwealth Games. As part of their preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Northern Ireland formed a partnership with Team Northumbria. This saw seven Northern Ireland internationals – Oonagh McCullough, Fionnuala Toner, Caroline O'Hanlon, Gemma Gibney, Michelle Drayne, Noleen Lennon and Niamh Cooper – play for Team Northumbria during the 2014 Netball Superleague season. With Kate Carpenter taking charge of both teams, Northern Ireland and Team Northumbria also shared a coach. In the tournament itself, they eventually finished seventh after defeating Wales by 58–36 in a classification match. Northern Ireland made their second appearance at the Commonwealth Games in 2018. Team captain, Caroline O'Hanlon, carried the flag of Northern Ireland during the 2018 Commonwealth Games Parade of Nations. Northern Ireland eventually finished eighth after losing to Malawi by 60–52 in a classification match.
TournamentsPlace
2014 Commonwealth Games7th
2018 Commonwealth Games8th
2022 Commonwealth Games10th
2026 Commonwealth Games

Celtic Cup

The Celtic Cup series is hosted and organised by Netball Northern Ireland, Netball Scotland and Wales Netball. The series features Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales playing a series of test matches against each other and visiting national teams.
TournamentsPlace
2024 Celtic Cup4th
2025 Celtic Cup6th

Netball Europe Open Championships

Northern Ireland have played regularly in the Netball Europe Open Championships. Their best performances came in 2012 and 2017 when they finished second and won silver medals on both occasions.
TournamentsPlace
1998 FENA Open
1999 FENA Open
2000 FENA Open
2001 FENA Open
2002 FENA Open
2003 FENA Open
2004 FENA Open
2005 FENA Open
2006 FENA Open
2007 FENA Open4th
2008 FENA Open3rd
2009 Netball Europe Open Championships3rd
2010 Netball Europe Open Championships4th
2011 Netball Europe Open Championships3rd
2012 Netball Europe Open Championships2th
2013 Netball Europe Open Championships3rd
2014 Netball Europe Open Championships3rd
2015 Netball Europe Open Championships4th
2016 Netball Europe Open Championships4th
2017 Netball Europe Open Championships2th
2019 Netball Europe Open Championships3rd

Netball Singapore Nations Cup

Northern Ireland won the Netball Singapore Nations Cup in both 2009 and 2015
TournamentsPlace
2007 Netball Singapore Nations Cup
2009 Netball Singapore Nations Cup
2015 Netball Singapore Nations Cup

World University Netball Championship

Northern Ireland represented the Colleges and Universities Sports Association of Ireland at the 2012 World University Netball Championship. It was initially planned that Ireland would send an All-Ireland team, featuring players from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However no players from the Republic were selected for the final squad. As a result, it was a Northern Ireland team, in effect, that competed in the tournament.
TournamentsPlace
2012 World University Netball Championship4th

Honours