Country tipped to help Northern Ireland (5)
I believe the answer is:
india
'country' is the definition.
(India is an example)
'tipped to help northern ireland' is the wordplay.
'tipped' says the letters should be written backwards.
'to help' becomes 'aid' ('aid' can be a synonym of 'help').
'northern ireland' becomes 'ni'.
'aid'+'ni'='aidni'
'aidni' reversed gives 'INDIA'.
(Other definitions for india that I've seen before include "Big country" , "Second-most populous country" , "I identified on radio" , "Nation, I (radio comms.)" , "Sub-continental country" .)