Securing Republic of Ireland assistant coach Paddy McCarthy to a contract extension up to Euro 2028 is among the priorities for the FAI’s director of football John Martin.
Ireland under-21 manager Jim Crawford will replace McCarthy at a warm weather camp in Spain next week as the 42-year-old is focused on his day job with Crystal Palace and a potential Conference League final. Palace bring a 3-1 lead over Shakhtar Donetsk back to Selhurst Park for Thursday’s semi-final second-leg.
John O’Shea and the rest of Heimir Hallgrímsson’s backroom staff are expected to sign new deals, with Martin hoping that McCarthy will not be tempted by offers similar to those which saw former Ireland coaches Anthony Barry and John Eustace lured away in recent years.
“Paddy will be part of our team until the point that someone takes him away from us,” said Martin on Wednesday, speaking to the media for the first time since his appointment last September.
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“The focus is on Palace at the moment and getting that over the line. But I have had some long, great conversations with Paddy and we will hold on to Paddy until the day that we can’t.
“We’ll sit down properly at the end of Palace’s season, as I appreciate he has a lot on there. He’s huge for us.”
It’s a busy recruitment period for the association with five underage coaches to be appointed this week to complete the restructuring of the football department under Martin following voluntary redundancies in January.
Martin would not be drawn on whether Damien Duff is being considered for a position. The former Shelbourne manager spoke recently of a desire to return to coaching, hinting that he may need to go abroad.
“I wouldn’t like to name individuals, but I’m a big fan of what he did at Shelbourne. It was phenomenal. I joined the league in 1997 [as a player for UCD, Longford Town and Shamrock Rovers] and I think winning that league with Shelbourne [in 2024] is the best achievement.
“I think [Duff] has a huge amount to offer the game. It will be interesting to see where his next move will be.”
On Hallgrímsson’s push for an international men’s game in January, Martin suggested an alternative plan by tweaking League of Ireland fixtures in 2027 to allow the likes of next week’s game against Grenada to include home-based players in the future.
“Can you be creative, and throw in an extra Monday night game and there are no games this weekend?” he asked. “Players will be in-season, games under their belt, domestic games will not disrupted so they can give the best of themselves.
“There is a blend to be looked at, with League of Ireland players, League One players and a Jaden Umeh-type, high-profile youth player.”
Martin also raised concerns around Irish female players being “ill-prepared” by the current system to make an impact at English clubs. Asked how he would map out a career path to the parent of a 16-year-old girl with aspirations to turn professional, he said: “It’s about knowing all the players in the system.
“Those talented 16-year-olds, we should be fully aware of who they are. There should be 20 or 30 of those, and they should have, hopefully, an understanding that the international department is going to focus on them.”
However, Martin remained non-committal on reviving home-based sessions at Abbotstown, or when a women’s under-21 or under-23 squad will be formed.
“At the very minimum, the gap between the end of the season [October] and the start of the season [March] is something that we should fill. You would love to take all the high-profile players in the country and give them programmes, be it performance or technical. You’d like to make sure we can see them, whether that’s biweekly, weekly or monthly.”
Martin noted that the FAI’s new head of women’s and girls football Lizzy Kent has a staff of five full-time employees, including Shelbourne captain Pearl Slattery, whereas Kent’s predecessor Hannah Dingley was a department of one.
On Eileen Gleeson’s current role within the FAI, Martin explained the former Ireland manager reports to the chief operating officer, Christina Kenny, and is not part of the football department.
