Denise O’Sullivan has continued her withering criticism of how the FAI broke links with former Republic of Ireland assistant coach Colin Healy.
O’Sullivan, who has 117 caps for Ireland, scoring 22 goals, believes the way that the Association’s chief football officer Marc Canham ended Healy’s employment in November, while recruiting Carla Ward and Alan Mahon as Ireland’s new coaches, lacked “class and compassion”.
Tragically, Healy’s wife Kelly passed away in April 2024 leaving the former Ireland international to raise his two young children.
The 44-year-old sought assurances from Canham that the FAI would renew his contract whether Ireland qualified for Euro 2025 or not, as he had opportunities to manage Cobh Ramblers and Kerry FC men’s teams.
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On January 16th Canham and the FAI chief executive David Courell both denied that Healy was given “verbal assurances” around future employment.
Courell also claimed that Healy “misunderstood” a text he sent that appeared to reveal a disconnect between the FAI CEO and Canham.
“Coaches being let go, that’s normal, it’s part of the game, you want to get results but I think the manner it was done was disrespectful,” O’Sullivan told Irish Football Fan TV.
“I think it lacked class. It lacked compassion. Working with Colin, I don’t have one bad thing to say about him. He’s an incredible man, a really excellent coach, but I don’t even want to get into the coaching side because everyone who knows Colin knows how good a coach he is.
“It’s more the human side. He’s a really genuine, honest man who has had a large impact on me as a player.
“The way he was treated is unfair,” O’Sullivan continued. “I am really gutted for Colin, I think it is a step backwards. I think there is a way to do things, there is a way to treat people and it wasn’t the right thing to do. I’m really disappointed it happened the way it did.
“I love playing for Ireland, for my country, but this leaves a bad taste in my mouth, the way this happened.”
The situation now seems certain to spill into this month’s international camp when Ward replaces Eileen Gleeson, with Mahon as her assistant coach, for the Nations League opener against Turkey at Tallaght Stadium on February 21st.
“Colin is a highly regarded coach, just ask anyone in Irish football, but it’s not about them letting a coach go, that happens in football. But there is a manner in the way you treat people and I think it could have been done very, very differently,” O’Sullivan added. “Because he is a great man. He dedicated all last year to the national team, with the challenges he faced as a person in his life.
“It’s a person’s welfare. Like, it affects their family and when that happens I need to speak about it. I can’t just stay quiet and that’s why I have voiced my opinion on that. I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t speak up. It was handled really poorly in my opinion.”
Healy, in a statement released by his agent Graham Barrett at Integrity Sports last month, stated: “The last year has been the toughest of my life, given that I lost my wife, Kelly, so I did not want to make any decision on how to progress with this issue while emotional.
“But it has been over a month since I was relieved of my responsibilities at the FAI, and the nature of my treatment still feels completely unacceptable.
“Marc Canham was aware that the Cobh opportunity offered me long-term employment at a really progressive club. The position also allowed me combine my coaching career with my duties as a single father to my two young children, at a club close to my home in Cork.
“There is a way to behave and a way to treat people. I feel the treatment I received lacked transparency and compassion, and that there was a total disregard shown toward my welfare as an employee – a reality that now sees me out of work, and affects my ability to provide for my children.”
In response, Canham said: “We didn’t give Colin any absolute guarantees or assurances that his contract would be renewed.”
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