'Leaks have stopped' - Niall Quinn believes FAI governance has improved

Quinn believes it a "good thing" nobody on the outside of the FAI knows who the next senior Ireland men's manager will be.

Tue, 09 Apr, 2024 - 17:47

PJ Browne

Niall Quinn believes the overpayment of FAI CEO Jonathan Hill's being spotted is a sign that governance has improved at the association.

It emerged last year that Hill had been paid €11,500 in lieu of untaken holidays, meaning his salary exceeded the amount permitted under the terms of the FAI's state bailout.

"In the last couple of years, that [governance] side of things has started to settle down," former Ireland international Quinn, who served as the FAI's interim deputy CEO during the Covid-19 pandemic, told the Ray D'Arcy Show.

"Someone will immediately point to 'Hey, but the current CEO's salary [overpayment] of €12,000, isn't that terrible'.

"Did anybody ever think of saying, 'That's the new governance'. It was caught after €12,000, not €67 million. That's the only way of looking at it when you've been in there trying to make change.

"That in itself shows you that the association is doing the right thing. The leaks have stopped. There were leaks all the way through that process of trying to get into a good place, people putting stuff in the media that they wanted from their side. That seems to have stopped."

Quinn, who is serving as the chairperson of the Dillon Quirke Foundation, said it's a "good thing" nobody on the outside of the FAI knows who will be the next senior Ireland men's manager.

"This has been quite unusual that there has been no leaks," added Quinn.

"A good boardroom doesn't leak. Whoever gets this job, I'll be very supportive anyway. Anthony (Barry) is the latest name, it was Roy Keane a week or two ago, Gus Poyet.

"I don't think that the association has to answer to all that noise that's going on. I do think they've got somebody in mind that they wanted in who is contracted elsewhere.

"Anthony Barry fits that profile. He was around when Stephen (Kenny) had some of his better performances. The only thing I do know - word came out to me - is that the players loved working with him. I don't know him other than that.

"I respect the process that's going on; others mightn't. I hope, when everything settles, that there's room for Brian Kerr in there as a father figure to a very young squad. Whoever comes in might want to bring all their own people, as Stephen did. A bit of patience is need. Let's see where this goes in the next couple of weeks."