Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill has insisted he will not attempt to gag number two Roy Keane.

It has to be said we in the readed meeja were a little put out when we learned Roy Keane wouldn’t be in attendance for the grand unveiling today of Martin O’Neill as the new Ireland manager.

Alex Ferguson may have poured scorn on Roy Keane’s managerial abilities in his recent book but he believes serving as Martin O’Neill’s lieutenant with Ireland can be the Cork man’s ticket back to the big time with a Premier League club.

Today will see the official unveiling of our new manager Martin O’Neill but, inevitably, much of the hype surrounding his appointment has been devoted to his surprise decision to have Roy Keane as his assistant manager.

They may be Ireland’s dream team, but Martin O’Neill has made clear there will only be one man making the decisions.

If Mick McCarthy is feeling some relief that he won’t have any more of his Ipswich Town press conferences hijacked by questions about the Ireland job, he wasn’t showing it yesterday.

“A great appointment” is how Steve Bruce has described Martin O’Neill’s decision to select Roy Keane as his number two, with the Hull City boss predicting the pair will work well together at the helm of Irish football.

It’s approaching a year since John Egan’s physical and mental pain subsided after a surprise visitor to the Darlington Woodlands Hospital.

FAI boss John Delaney believes qualification for the European Championships in 2016 would be an appropriate way to mark the centenary of the 1916 Easter Rising, especially now as we have a manager who not only was born in the six counties but was captain of its Northern Ireland football team.

Martin O’Neill has said he could not turn down the opportunity to manage the Republic of Ireland.

Ray Houghton insists Roy Keane is not expecting equal billing alongside Martin O’Neill when the duo take charge of the Republic of Ireland.

Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney has insisted Roy Keane’s turbulent past is irrelevant to his impending return to the international stage.

Ray Houghton has confessed he was surprised at the 'unbelievable' enthusiasm of Roy Keane for the assistant management job.

FAI big cheese John Delaney this morning confirmed what we all knew already. Here's how Twitter responded.

Martin O'Neill is to be the new Irish soccer manager and Roy Keane will be his assistant.

Don Givens insisted there had been no pressure or influence exerted by FAI chiefs in the search undertaken by himself, Don Howe and Ray Houghton for a Republic of Ireland soccer boss.

Former Italian coach Giovanni Trappatoni has been confirmed as the new Republic of Ireland soccer boss after a protracted recruitment process handled by Don Givens, Ray Houghton and Don Howe.

The hunt for the new Republic of Ireland manager is reaching its “concluding phase” – with Giovanni Trapattoni set to be confirmed in the job tomorrow.

Sunderland Chairman Niall Quinn has welcomed the news that the FAI search for a new manager is drawing to a close.

Wexford Youths FC manager and owner, Mick Wallace, has given his backing to Giovanni Trapattoni to take over as the new Republic of Ireland manager.

It's turning out to be one of the most talked about recruitment processes ever in this country but it's not finished yet.

It is an issue that has been uppermost in the minds of the nations soccer fans for the past 3 months and it seems there is an end in sight to the FAI process of recruiting a new international manager.

The FAI has denied speculation that the hunt for a new Republic of Ireland manager is a done deal.

Former Everton manager Howard Kendall has put himself forward for the vacant Republic of Ireland job.