FAI interim CEO David Courell has acknowledged the frustration felt by supporters over the drawn-out process of appointing a new Republic of Ireland manager.
Wednesday marks six months to the day since Stephen Kenny left his role and despite a few false dawns, the hotseat remains unoccupied, although former Ireland defender John O’Shea has agreed to handle a second international window on an interim basis.
Prior to O’Shea’s first two games at the helm against Belgium and Switzerland in March, FAI director of football Marc Canham assured the public that an appointment would be made in early April.
With that self-imposed deadline now long-since passed, Courell addressed the situation in an interview which aired on Wednesday’s Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio One.
“The level of interest in this has been significant and that just reinforces the engagement of the Irish public in football,” he said.
“We understand there’s been a degree of frustration that we haven’t yet made an appointment but we are doing it with the best interests of the game in mind. We do not want to compromise and make a short-term appointment when ultimately, the long-term success of the men’s national team remains our paramount ambition.
“That is where we are. We’ve decided to take the benefit of a window where we don’t have any competitive fixtures to ensure that we complete our process and our search to secure the best candidate to take us forward.
“We have been rightly criticised for setting out timelines over recent months so I hope, without the risk of sounding hypocritical, we are committed to ensuring we have someone in the post by 7 September, when we commence the Uefa Nations League competition.”
Mayo native Courell was promoted from his role as chief operating officer back in April and he stated that prior to this, he was very much looking at the international managerial selection process from the outside.
“First and foremost, up until a matter of weeks ago when I took on this interim post, I myself was air-gapped from the process and I think that’s testament to how professionally it’s been run,” said Courell. “It genuinely has been a confidential process internally and externally.
“Now that I’m in the camp, I’m fully comfortable with all the steps and stages that have taken place to date. I’m confident we will secure the best candidate to take the men’s national team forward and ensure that we deliver success and reinvigorate the passion of the Irish nation behind the team.”
O’Shea oversaw a draw with Belgium and a defeat to the Swiss in those two March friendlies and will take Ireland into fixtures against Hungary and Portugal in June. He is one of several names who have been linked with the role on a permanent basis, and Courell refrained from ruling out the Waterford native.
“It’s an open process,” Courell said. “Every candidate is being considered and John has done a fantastic job for us and we’re looking forward to what he can do through the upcoming fixtures. He’s an unbelievable ambassador for the game and a fantastic servant for Irish football, so I wish him the best of luck for June and we’ll see what transpires in the rest of the recruitment process.
Courell was speaking ahead of the UEFA Europa League final between Bayer Leverkusen and Atalanta, which will be held at the Aviva Stadium on Wednesday night.
Dublin is abuzz with activity this week in the lead-up to the game and Courell promised that it is the FAI’s intention to make big football nights a regular occurrence in the city once more.
“Even though our results may not have been where wanted them to be over recent years, the passion of the fans hasn’t left the stands,” he said. “We have 25,000 season ticket-holders in the Aviva on an annual basis. That is the highest number across any European federation.
“We are staring into a Nations League campaign which features England as our first opposition on 7 September. Again, it will be a reminder to the full Irish nation of just how powerful football is.
“We are also looking at the next cycle and next four-year window and it really culminates with Euro 2028, which obviously is part of our wider major events strategy with regard to the Europa League and Euro 2028, which we’re hosting with our colleagues from the United Kingdom.
“That will hopefully be a crescendo, where we qualify on merit and if not, we will have the benefit of an increased likelihood of qualification through host status.
“We would then have home advantage and I would like to see us go deeper into the tournament off the back of that and it brings a raft of financial benefits to the association and to Irish football. We’re hoping we can use Euro 2028 as a catalyst to realise our programme on a facilities vision which we launched last year.”
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