Will co-hosting Euro 2028 be of any real benefit to Irish football?

Plus, the tourism sector feeling left behind in Budget 2024

Listen | 48:25
Ireland will host a major international soccer tournament for the first time in 2028, with six matches to be played at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.
Ireland will host a major international soccer tournament for the first time in 2028, with six matches to be played at the Aviva Stadium. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA Wire.

With Ireland confirmed as co-hosts for Euro 2028 along with the UK, could the tournament be a catalyst for positive change when it comes to the standards of training and facilities within the domestic game here? And while tournament football under the floodlights of the Aviva is a tantalising prospect, will Ireland even qualify?

Ciarán Hancock is joined by Irish Times Soccer Correspondent Gavin Cummiskey and CEO of Teneo Ireland Michael O’Keefe to tease out the pros and cons of hosting an international tournament.

And with the perception that tourism was not a priority for Budget 2024, Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, Chairperson of Irish Tourism Industry Confederation and Senior Business Report Barry O’Halloran explain why industry chiefs have sought a meeting with Minister for Tourism Catherine Martin to discuss a sector that supports “13 per cent of all Irish livelihoods, more than in agriculture and construction combined”.

Produced by John Casey, with JJ Vernon on sound.