Department of Sport officials said last night that neither the Government nor the Sports Council would hold any meetings with the FAI until confirmation is provided that the association intends to advertise the posts of chief executive and financial director before the end of the year.
The escalation of the difficulties between the Government and the association followed yesterday's meeting of the organisation's 60-strong council in Citywest Hotel where John Delaney was formally offered the post of chief executive for an unspecified period and FAI president Milo Corcoran said there were no plans to begin the process of filling the position on a permanent basis.
"No, it's not in the plans," said Corcoran when asked if the post would be advertised before Christmas, although he was subsequently obliged to issue a clarification through the association's press office to the effect that "the time frame of any appointment will be discussed with the Government".
A brief statement after the meeting said the association "would continue to engage with the Government," in relation to the issue. But a spokesman for the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism said last night that unless the association intends to comply with last week's "request" from the Minister John O'Donoghue that the two posts are opened up to public competition at a very early stage, there will be nothing for the two sides to discuss.
"Minister O'Donoghue made very clear the Government's position in this matter," he said, "and there is neither a need nor a desire for any further engagement with the FAI pending an indication from the association of whether they intend to comply with the Government's request."
The Minister said that he was only attempting to act in the best long-term interests of the association and he expressed some surprise that the FAI had yet to confirm their intention to proceed with an open recruitment procedure. "We're not telling the FAI who to choose as their chief executive or financial controller," said O'Donoghue, who is said to have no specific difficulty with the appointment of Delaney on a short-term basis.
"All we are saying is that they must advertise the posts in an open and transparent way. Everyone will agree that this is the least we can expect from the FAI following all the trouble that we have had, not just in recent years but going back decades."
Earlier, on the Eamon Dunphy radio show he said that failure to advertise the jobs before Christmas would have "serious implications" for Government funding of the FAI. That would suggest that up to €2 million in public funds that the association would expect to receive next year could be threatened if the current impasse is not resolved. Another 9 million in capital grants were also announced for clubs and leagues in April of this year and funding of this nature could potentially be threatened too.
Leading members of the association were scheduled to meet John Treacy and the Sports Council next Tuesday when the implementation of the Genesis report and the 300,000 in public funding linked to it, which is presently being withheld, was once again to be on the agenda.
It was made clear by his Department last night, however, that it is the Minister who makes major calls on overall policy for the council and that that meeting will not now go ahead if the association has not provided the assurances required of it.
It was widely believed prior to yesterday's meeting that Delaney would not consider accepting the post for less than a period of 12 to 18 months but the failure to be specific about the amount of time that Delaney is to be appointed for suggests an attempt to avoid a direct confrontation and keep talks with the Government going while Delaney settles into the job.
When pressed about how long Delaney would be expected to take the job for during this "interim" spell, Corcoran said, "I'm not going to get drawn into that. How long is a piece of string? It's interim, that's all." Delaney is expected to accept the post next week.
At the end of the meeting there was an agreement that none of those present would make any public comment on the day's events but suggestions were that the meeting had been surprisingly positive.
The feeling was that the various difficulties with the Department could be ironed out and the period of time that might be allowed to elapse before the post is advertised would be decided after Delaney and the other officers had had the opportunity to put their case for a "period of stabilisation" to the Minister. This, in turn, appears to be the product of a belief on the part of the leadership that the Minister does not understand what is required to address the various difficulties being encountered within Merrion Square.
It appears that there was little desire to force a vote on the matter, a point emphasised by Corcoran afterwards. "There was unanimous support from the board and unanimous support from the council," he observed on the steps of the hotel after the meeting before adding, "I'd say that's a fairly healthy situation."
