Footballer Declan Rice found himself in trouble this week as a four-year-old social media post was unearthed in which he used a pro-IRA phrase.

Rice, who was 15 at the time and playing for the Republic of Ireland U17 side, posted the words "Up the 'Ra" in a conversation with a teammate.

He has since apologised via his Instagram account, saying that the comment was "poorly expressed".

Should Rice's words be excused, given that he was a teenager at the time?

Joe O'Shea and Denise O'Donoghue discussed this and some of the other stories making the news in The Week Trending, including the image that emerged of Sinn Féin's Mary Lou McDonald posing with a sign reading 'England Get Out of Ireland' in New York's St. Patrick's Day parade.