As the Irish Government and football bosses sent demands for a rematch to Fifa, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he would raise the controversy with President Nicolas Sarkozy at a European summit.

But with pressure mounting on football's world governing body, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon then urged politicians not to interfere.

The cruel defeat in Paris was secured after Thierry Henry used an arm to control the ball and squared to team-mate William Gallas to score, denying Ireland a trip to South Africa.

"I think that fair play is a fundamental part of the game," the Taoiseach said in Brussels.

It is estimated that World Cup qualification would have been worth 30 million euros (£26.7 million) to Irish football.

Justice Minister Dermot Ahern led the first demands for the rematch, in the interests of fair play, backed by assistant manager Liam Brady and followed later by the Taoiseach.

"All we want is fair play," the minister said.

"Fifa are committed to the concept of fair play. Ironically, their Fair Play campaign was conceived as a direct result of the 1986 'Hand of God' goal by (Diego) Maradona."

The organisation's website states that the campaign was a direct result of the English defeat at the Mexico World Cup at the hands of Argentina.

"We now have an equally controversial handball goal. Fifa need to show that they are not paying just lip service to fair play but want to act on it also," the minister said.

Ireland's cruel defeat came in extra time after Swedish referee and firefighter Martin Hansson and his assistants failed to spot Henry illegally using an arm to control the ball.

The officials also missed an offside in the same attack.

Henry joined his team-mates in wild celebrations behind the goal after the ball ended up in the net.

Ireland's three-time major-winning golfer Padraig Harrington joined the mounting criticism, saying: "The celebration of the cheating was particularly galling. The celebration was pretty hard to look at."