The government has approved an rescue package worth €19.2 million as part of a wider plan to save the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), which was signed off yesterday. The government’s commitment under the rescue plan consists of a doubling of the FAI’s Sport Ireland grant, from €2.9 million to €5.8 million, for the next four years. Minister for Sport Shane Ross, insisting that the package was not a “bailout”, nonetheless said the rescue marked a “new dawn” for Irish football. The Cabinet signed off on the rescue package on Thursday after an emergency “incorporeal” meeting. This morning the Cabinet held an urgent incorporeal meeting to approve an agreement between the Government and the Football Association of Ireland.

Source: The Irish Times January 30, 2020 11:26 UTC