Colin Sheridan: The FAI made a choice when agreeing to host Israel — cowardice

The FAI hid behind the excuse of having no choice when they decided to fulfil its fixture against Israel later this year in Dublin

FAI chief executive officer David Courell (right) and FAI independent chairperson Tony Keohane (left). 'We, in reality, do not have a choice for a variety of reasons.' File photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

Sat, 28 Feb, 2026 - 00:32

Colin Sheridan

Colin Sheridan is a writer and columnist. A former officer in the Irish Defence Forces he has extensive deployment experience as a peacekeeper with the United Nations, having lived and worked in the former Yugoslavia, West Africa, Afghanistan, Lebanon and Palestine.

Choice. The act of choosing between two or more possibilities. We make them every day — big ones, small ones, many of them without even realising we’re making them.

There are easy choices. The choice between two apples. Between multiple routes to work. Between a latte and a flat white. And there are difficult choices. To finally give up trying for a baby. To break up with somebody you love but choose to no longer be with. To stop chest compressions on a loved one you know isn’t coming back.