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Mark Connolly will forever be known as the £1million kid but after seeing his value plummet when cut loose by Bolton last summer, his stock is starting to rise again.

Two months have passed since Shay Given retired from international football and the Republic of Ireland are still searching for his long-term replacement, which is good news for Ryan Meara.

Brian Clough once said that the only certainty in football management is that one day you will be sacked. Still, that hasn’t diluted Joe Dunne’s desire to step into the cut-throat world.

When he left Ireland two years ago, Steven Gray was nothing more than a statistic – another one lost to emigration. But now he is a trailblazer for those chasing a dream on foreign shores.

Survival is a word that Dundalk have become all too familiar with this season, but Shaun Maher could still tell them a thing or two about it.

Nobody tells you when it’s all over and it matters little what you achieved at the height of your career when it is fizzling out. But Vinny Perth has discovered that there is a way of starting again.

The interview has finished and Ian Baraclough starts to tell a story of how he impressed Brendan Rodgers so much that he was invited to take a closer look at how a big club is run.

With so much time to burn in between games at the Euros, the five League of Ireland graduates in the Republic of Ireland squad are bound to trade war stories at some stage. And when they do, it is Dubliner Stephen Ward who will be the odd one out.

Greeted with a firm handshake and a warm smile, Harry Kenny invites me into his home to discuss football, business, the business of football and, most importantly, the FAI Cup.

Last summer Simon Cox cancelled his summer holidays to make an unexpected debut for the Republic of Ireland. It proved to be the best decision of his career.