By our own embarrassingly low standards it's already been a rather good season for our representatives in the European club competitions. To date UCD, Shelbourne and Bohemians have all achieved results in their outings while Cork City were unfortunate to lose to a late goal two weeks ago in Switzerland.

In terms of where we stand in UEFA's order of merit, though, and where we'd like to be, the past few weeks are only a start. They certainly provide something Irish clubs have been sadly lacking for many years now - a basis on which to build as well as a measure of confidence that we are beginning to move in the right direction - but there remains a very long way to go.

A glance at the UEFA coefficients table makes it clear just how far. The Republic lies 41st in a list of 51 nations, actually a slight improvement on our standing a couple of seasons ago, when we lay behind both Malta and Northern Ireland both of whom have now been overtaken.

The three nations immediately above us on the list, however, give some idea just how miserably we've been performing on the international stage, with Estonia, Wales and Armenia all just sneaking into the top 40.

The table is currently based on club performances in UEFA's main two competitions so, while UCD's two draws will not have any impact on our standing, Shelbourne's win and two draws as well as Bohemians' victory in Scotland should already, between them, be enough for Ireland to leapfrog the Estonians, Welsh and Armenians into 38th place. OK, it's not quite party-time just yet, but grounds, at least, for some optimism.

Crucially, this slight and gradual improvement will bring no benefit to Irish clubs in future years. In order to make any gains at all the Republic would have to scale the dizzy heights of the top 29, at which point the National League winners would go into the second qualifying-round of the Champions League.

That would mean stiffer opposition in their opening match, but the games would be two weeks later, the potential for major television income would be substantially increased and progression would immediately guarantee at least four more games as those who go out at the third qualifying-round stage go into the UEFA Cup.

As it happens, Norway and Scotland have this year, on the basis of just one of their clubs performing strongly, made it into the top 15 on UEFA's list so that from next season each association will have two clubs in the Champions League. The top 29 looks like a fairly tall order for the Irish, even if the fact Slovenia and Cyprus are both up there does provide some basis for hope.

If Ireland is either to join or displace them then we must not only start producing this summer's sort of form on a regular basis, but actually improve upon it. Our coefficient is based on our five-year form with points allocated for wins and draws in various rounds of the competitions. Over the past five years we have three times scored 0.333, once managed 0.5 and once, three seasons ago when Shelbourne drew in Kilmarnock, but both Bohemians and Derry City lost home and away, just 0.166 points.

To date, this summer, the tally stands at 1.0, but given that the average score required to make 29th in the table currently stands at about 2.2 work remains to be done. To achieve that this year both Bohemians and Cork City would have to win this week (with City progressing) and then record at least one victory or two draws between them in the UEFA Cup first-round proper.

Already this season the competitive performances have boosted the league's image and helped to heal the damage done by last season's poor results. The preparations of Shelbourne, in particular, have also set a new standard for pre-season training here. Perhaps, finally, we're moving in the right direction again.

This weekend's National League fixture between Shamrock Rovers and Longford Town has now been scheduled for Friday night at Richmond Park.