FAI a.g.m.: The Football Association of Ireland will join forces with the Scottish FA in a bid to jointly host the European Championship of 2012 and preliminary discussions have already taken place.
The FAI has also secured "substantial sponsorship from an international company" to organise a new North-South cup competition involving clubs from the Eircom and Irish leagues.
After what had been a turbulent and controversial few weeks, delegates at Saturday's FAI annual general meeting in Derry warmly welcomed the above news, and so the weekend meeting on Foyleside ended on a highly positive note, with no shortage of calls for the FAI to "unite and move forward".
The cloud hovering over the association may have lightened temporarily, but the controversy involving the president, Milo Corcoran, and honorary secretary Kevin Fahy will linger until the FAI Council meets in September.
Following the conclusion of Saturday's business, the FAI's chief executive, Fran Rooney, insisted the meeting had been particularly positive and said there "had not been one note of negativity" during the proceedings.
"I'm very happy with the response from delegates," said Rooney. "Great things are happening behind the scenes and we are united behind football. I believe that we are only a small step away from a gigantic leap for football in Ireland."
And when questioned on the Corcoran-Fahy controversy, Rooney skilfully sidestepped the issue, refusing to revisit the matter before that crucial meeting in September.
"The parties involved wish to have the issue resolved. They both wish to put their concerns before council and have the matter dealt with there," answered Rooney.
Another criticism of the FAI in recent times concerned accounting practices and procedures but, unlike the Fahy controversy, these issues were addressed by treasurer John Delaney at the meeting.
He dismissed allegations of making illegal grants to selected Eircom League Premier Division clubs, claiming the recent Irish Sports Council audit of the FAI's finances had confirmed the association's "excellent financial structures and processes".
Referring to the grants, Delaney confirmed "short-term loans" had been made to a number of clubs with "no risk whatsoever" to the association.
"One such short-term loan was made to a club which had qualified for Europe the previous season and when the money from Europe came through to the FAI, the loan was paid in full," claimed the treasurer.
"In another instance, an Eircom League club was given a short-term loan on the strength of a transfer fee owed by a Scottish club and once the fee arrived, the loan was also repaid in full," he added.
"Such short-term loans were given at no risk to the association and the criticisms levelled were totally unjustified," declared Delaney.
Rooney's announcement relating to the possible hosting of the 2012 European Championship, in partnership with the Scottish FA, understandably raised quite a few eyebrows.
He said preliminary discussions with the relevant authorities, including the Scottish FA, the Irish Government and UEFA officials, had taken place during Euro 2004 in Portugal.
And he expressed optimism that an announcement about a new North-South cup competition would be made in the next few weeks.
"Substantial sponsorship has been secured from an international company and while the format has not yet been discussed, I have high hopes that the event could take place maybe next April," said Rooney.
He envisaged the competition would involve "two or three teams" from each league's premier division and, possibly, the FAI Cup and Irish Cup winners.
Rooney was adamant that a great deal of good work had been going on behind the scenes - from grassroots level upwards - and he was confident football in Ireland was coming close to "a massive leap forward".
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