Basketball Ireland’s official Instagram account restored by Meta

Basketball Ireland’s official Instagram account has been restored by Meta, the association have announced.

The association was informed of this by email from the company shortly after 5pm on Sunday, stating the “account was removed in error”.

Basketball Ireland said they would like to thank those who assisted in resolving the matter.

It had lost access to its Instagram page on Sunday, February 11th, and on Wednesday, February 14th it was informed by Meta that it has been permanently disabled, via an automated message.

It noted the “added media and social media attention” in the lead-up and the aftermath of the Ireland’s game against Israel in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket 2025 Qualifier.

Meanwhile, the Ireland’s men’s head coach Mark Keenan has selected three uncapped players in his final 12-man squad for Thursday’s FIBA Basketball World Cup 2027 European pre-qualifiers game against Kosovo. UCC Demons pair James Beckom and David Lehane, along with Garvey’s Tralee Warriors centre Rapolas Buivydas, are included and are in line for their senior international debuts. Six players remain on standby and may be drafted in for Sunday’s qualifier with Switzerland.

Ireland play Kosovo at 6pm on Thursday in Pristina, it’s followed by the visit of Switzerland to the National Basketball Arena, which tips off at 3pm on Sunday. Both Group A games will be broadcast live on TG4 Player.

Ireland final 12-man squad:

Adrian O’Sullivan (Ballincollig), Lorcan Murphy (Templeogue), James Beckom (UCC Demons), Neil Randolph (Templeogue), Sean Flood (Den Helder, Netherlands), Conor Quinn (Belfast Star), Jordan Blount (Energywise Ireland Neptune), Rapolas Buivydas (Garvey’s Tralee Warriors), James Gormley (Griffith College Éanna), David Lehane (UCC Demons), Taiwo Badmus (Valur, Iceland), Matt Treacy (Wallabies, Switzerland).

• See our new project Common Ground, Evolving Islands: Ireland & Britain
• Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
• Find The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
• Our In The News podcast is now published daily – Find the latest episode here