FAI chief executive John Delaney today branded Roy Keane a “sideshow” and urged the former Republic of Ireland captain to “learn form the past, not live in it”.

Keane was scathing of the FAI’s attempts to get the second leg of the World Cup play-off against France replayed this week and when telling the Irish team to “get over it”, he questioned Delaney’s integrity after the way in which he handled the 2002 Saipan issue.

The current Ipswich Town manager was then sent home from Japan on the eve of the Wold Cup and he hasn’t forgotten the role Delaney played in it.

The former Manchester United captain also said the Irish had only themselves to blame after Thierry Henry’s handball led to William Gallas’s crucial goal, because they defended the free-kick poorly and didn’t take chances of their own.

Delaney, however, had little time for Keane or his comments when asked about them on Sky Sports this afternoon.

"It's just a side show for me," he said. "We have all moved on from Saipan - Niall Quinn, Mick McCarthy, the FAI and all the players - but it seems to me that he hasn't.

"It's time for him now, in my opinion, to learn from the past, not live in it.

"I thought the images, which were shown around the world, of the press conference that he did, they were sad. It was sad to see a great former player reflected in the manner of what he did.

"I think he needs to forget about Saipan and move on, because everyone else has."

One man finding it difficult to move on is Kevin Kilbane, who says the referee's insistance that Henry did not handle the ball still irks him.

"A couple of us stopped playing when Henry handled the ball," he told the Sunday Times. "I suppose we shouldn't have because we might have been able to deal with the cross, but the handball was so blatant.

"I probably had the best view, along with Shay Given and Keith Andrews. We were staring right at Henry.

"The initial handball, which he possibly couldn't have avoided, took the ball away from him, but he cut it back for himself with the second touch of his hand.

"That's what I saw and that is why I thought it was so clear.

"I asked the referee at half-time in extra time, 'Did you see it?' and he told me 'I can 100% say it wasn't handball'.

"Those were his exact words. That is what made it even more annoying.

"I don't know how he can make a comment like that when he hasn't seen it."