John O'Shea: Ireland camp fully behind Séamus Coleman stance on Israel fixtures

O'Shea has agreed a new deal to extend his time as assistant to Heimir Hallgrímsson

John O'Shea: “What Séamus said, being a dad, I have three kids myself, nobody wants to see innocent kids being involved in scenarios like that." Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

John O’Shea and Seamus Coleman have been brothers in arms for long enough now. When Coleman made his Ireland debut 15 and a half years ago, O’Shea was right there beside him.

Last week, Coleman stepped forward with the strongest statement we have yet heard from anyone in the Ireland camp on the subject of this autumn’s Nations League meetings with Israel and when, where or if they should go ahead. O’Shea, now Coleman’s assistant manager, is still right there beside him.

The Waterford native echoed Coleman’s sentiments that he “knows the difference between right and wrong” and that the mess "should not have landed on our toes” but be taken on by the relevant and senior authorities, namely UEFA and the Irish government.

Coleman’s take came before last Thursday night’s meeting with Qatar. Protests by Ireland fans, which disrupted that 1-0 victory at Lansdowne Road, have brought more immediacy to the issue and the FAI held a board meeting on Thursday night to discuss options. O’Shea is all too aware something needs to happen — and soon.

“Totally, we'll be 100% behind Séamus' answer, and we fully respect any of the players' opinions on the scenario,” O’Shea said at the Ireland team base in Montreal this week. “It's only going to get stronger and stronger, that opinion, the public opinion, and you're fully aware of it.

“What Séamus said, being a dad, I have three kids myself, nobody wants to see innocent kids being involved in scenarios like that. Nobody…It's not right, and listen, the FAI have made their statement on it, Heimir has spoken about it, and I'd echo that sentiment as well. Obviously [Uefa] acted on Russia, they haven't acted on Israel. From a sporting point of view, we don't want to give anyone an advantage, but we fully appreciate it's not right.” 

Israel’s brutal destruction of Gaza and the slaughter of upwards of 75,000 civilians over the past two and a half years puts the threat of sporting sanctions into a sharp context. Boycotting the matches could see Ireland hit with Uefa punishment and O’Shea, like Hallgrimsson, would prefer not to suffer sporting sanctions. But he’s all too aware of public sentiment at home.

“We didn't pick the game, it's obviously drawn out, and listen, a week is a long time in football,” added O’Shea. “You don't want to lose any sporting advantage. But we totally understand the nation's feelings, and for us to be involved in this scenario, it's not right. Any sanctions that affect Irish football, in the sense of sporting sanctions, losing games, having defeats, giving an advantage to other teams, it’s not right. Hopefully the authorities, and the government, Uefa, can resolve it for us.” 

So far the Irish government hasn’t shown much appetite to step in and help the FAI out of the situation. Political figures have consistently suggested the game should go ahead. Yet last week both Minister for Sport Patrick O'Donovan and Charlie McConalogue, Minister of State for Sport, said they will not attend. O’Shea, with plenty of justification, appeared to take issue with such mixed messaging.

“Listen, it's a strange one,” he added. “You’re thinking if the government are making that statement, to say the game should go ahead, etc, etc..I suppose the public will make their feelings known on comments like that too. We have to respect everyone's opinion on it, people's right to peaceful protests as well. We fully understand that, because like I mentioned, innocent children being involved in scenarios, it's harrowing stuff.” 

O’Shea and Hallgrimsson wrapped up a hectic month with Friday night’s friendly against the World Cup-bound Canadians. While Ireland’s campaign didn’t extend to this summer’s global gathering, the management crew helped breathe new life into the national team in the past year. While Hallgrimsson extended his contract ahead of the playoffs in March, O’Shea is technically out of contract once the team clocks off back in Dublin this weekend. He revealed that the ink will soon dry on a new deal for him too.

“It's all agreed. It's just a few little Ts and Cs. But I can't wait,” said O’Shea. “I'm looking forward to the next couple of years. When you see the exciting young talent we have, but also that experience that you see of Dara O’Shea, Caoimhín Kelleher, Nathan Collins, those guys developing, it's brilliant to see Troy Parrott, Evan coming back as well, the younger talent coming along.

“When you see someone like Jaden [Umeh] in training, it's really exciting. But ultimately, we need to get to major tournaments as well. That's what's up next.” 

With Euro 2028 being co-hosted at home, O’Shea had no second thoughts about potentially pursuing a top job elsewhere. While that is still his long-term goal, the next two years were more than enough of a carrot.

“It's a big part of it. You know what it means. When you see the group of players, and how they connected to the public again, back in November, how that engaged the nation, it was brilliant to be a part of that,” he added. 

“We know how gutting it was in March, how that felt, but we have to flip that and use that energy now to get to a major tournament, grow, and be competitive at a major tournament as well.”