If rugby can play pro game, why can’t we?

Just last week on Second Captains Niall Quinn declared he would not advise his own son to move to an English club at 16.

Quinn, who in his previous role as chairman at Sunderland signed many a 16-year-old Irish boy, said he would prefer if the best Irish players were more mature before they left for the UK.

This is all very well but Quinn, to be fair, recognised the problem is in getting them to stay. These boys need a viable alternative to going to the UK to pursue their goal of becoming a full-time professional footballer.