McGuirk confirmed as U-19 assistant manager

Bray Wanderers coach Tony McGuirk has been confirmed in the role of Republic of Ireland U19 assistant to manager Sean McCaffrey.

The two were first put together in partnership almost a year ago following the appointment of Brian Kerr as senior boss.

McGuirk has been assisting Pat Devlin at Bray’s Carlisle Grounds since May 2002 and McCaffrey rates him highly.

"Tony’s is a terrific fellow to work with," he commented, "a brilliant coach and he has a great football mind. He will be terrific to have around the squad again."

The U19s enjoyed a remarkable 3-3 draw with their French counterparts in December and are currently awaiting news from UEFA of the start date and whereabouts of their UEFA U19 Championship second round mini-tournament Group 7 involving Norway, Serbia and Montenegro and Belgium.

If they can progress along with the six other group winners and host nation Switzerland, the finals are set to run from July 13-24.