Paul Rouse: Centenary of the Football Association of Ireland is worth celebrating

It matters that the FAI is 100 years old this summer and predates the founding of an independent Irish state. The hope has to be that the FAI uses its centenary to remind people of its contribution to Ireland.

A general view of the Football Association of Ireland Offices at the FAI National Training Centre in Abbotstown. Picture: Matt Browne

The gloom which currently soaks Irish soccer is a logical consequence of a dismal run of results and the disgraceful mismanagement of the game by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). There is no hiding from that.

But the current travails of the national team and the long road back to institutional credibility (which is now being undertaken in earnest) should not obscure the importance of soccer to Irish culture and society.