Green lights signal progress

The groundwork for World Cup qualification, Mick McCarthy insisted recently, was really done in Amsterdam and Lisbon more than a year ago, where well-earned draws put the onus on the group's big names to come to Dublin and play.

If those two points provided the foundation for next summer's trip to Japan, though, it's the way in which the Irish team built on what they had achieved in two of Europe's grandest football capitals that raised them to the higher echelon of international football.

The record of McCarthy's team over the past 12 months speaks for itself, with eight wins, two draws and one defeat again reflecting the substantial progress this group of players has made under his management.

As they have grown, though, so has he, and whatever happens in Asia next June, the important thing is that this youthful Irish team is firmly geared towards achieving their potential in the future.

Without doubt, the new generation's finest moment this year came at the start of September in Dublin, when Jason McAteer's goal secured a memorable victory over a Dutch team bursting at the seams with world class players.

That McCarthy handled the pressure better than his opposite number, the internationally celebrated Louis van Gaal, was something of a personal triumph for the 42-year-old, but even that couldn't overshadow the achievement of his players who, having survived a decidedly tough first half, won the game despite Gary Kelly's sending off.

McAteer's winner was one of the great moments of the campaign and the deeply emotional gratitude he expressed afterwards to his manager for keeping faith with him through some tough times at club level was a rare and genuinely touching glimpse of the warmth that has developed within the group.

Roy Keane's business-like handshake with McCarthy at the end, of course, served to remind us that not everybody's contribution to the team is based on a sense of mutual love and respect.

There were other moments worth recalling, not least Niall Quinn's 21st goal for his country on the day he celebrated his 35th birthday at Lansdowne Road.

The Dubliner is not the most naturally talented striker ever to wear the green jersey and few of his goals down the years will inspire too much awe when our World Cup rivals view the tapes as part of their preparations for next June.

But in an era when the huge rewards on offer to players tend to give the term "servant" a slightly foolish ring about it, Quinn's tremendous service to the Irish cause has made him one of the most popular figures in the history of the game here.

The esteem in which Quinn is held was underlined when almost all of the 35,000 supporters present on October 6th united in song to celebrate his birthday after he had scored to put the home side 2-0 in front against Cyprus.

And then there was the delight of seeing Shay Given's explosion of pride and joy at the end of the play-off game in Tehran. Few who saw Ireland's defeat in Brussels four years ago will ever forget the sight of the then 21-year-old being led, distraught, towards the dressing-room by Mick Byrne.

He'd done nothing wrong then but this year his contribution was central to the team's success, not least in the home game against Iran when he made two superb saves.

His obvious delight in Tehran seems almost as unforgettable as his despair four years earlier.

And then there was Byrne, whose knack for wrapping himself around McCarthy even before referees have completed the act of bringing Ireland's greatest days to an end ensured he was almost as regularly photographed this year as the manager himself.

Another year like the one just gone and the team's long-time physio may have to be surgically removed from around his beloved boss's neck.

For the pair's employers, meanwhile, the past 12 months have also been eventful, with the acrimonious divisions that eventually ended with the ditching of plans for the proposed Eircom Park replaced by a unified determination to make the new deal work.

Within the association, the rise to key positions of opponents of the Citywest scheme like Brendan Menton, John Delaney and John Byrne, all with National League backgrounds, has marked a major internal shift in the balance of power.

Only the subsequent doubt cast on the ability of Bertie Ahern to deliver fully on his side of the bargain has prevented the arrangement being viewed as a complete, if expensive, victory for a group who spent more than a year being dismissed as cranks and begrudgers.

And even then, those on the national political scene who oppose plans for Stadium Ireland now propose buying off the FAI for a second time in the event that the scheme is eventually scrapped.

On the domestic front, the owner-occupiers of the Irish team's former home, Dalymount, spent the year stealing the headlines, with Bohemians' colourful manager, Roddy Collins, first leading them to a memorable league and cup double and then departing in typically controversial circumstances.

The side's prodigious striking talent, Glen Crowe, not only picked up both major player of the year awards but also found himself in McCarthy's international squad for a spell.

And the Dalymount administrators ended the year (as they are likely to start the next) in the High Court, battling with Longford after Stephen Kenny accepted the offer to replace Pete Mahon as the club's third manager in six months.

And to think, RT╔ picked Kildare Gaelic football for their soap with a sports theme. After On Home Ground's cool reception, expect Dalyer to hit your screens as part of this year's autumn schedules.