ANDY TOWNSEND is not stepping down as captain of the Republic of Ireland team - and that's official.

After two unsuccessful attempts to unload the responsibility Townsend confirmed yesterday that he now plans to retain the job for as long as Mick McCarthy needs him.

"On two separate occasions I suggested to Mick that in the long-term interest of the team he might want to give the job to somebody else, but the answer each time was `no'.

"further down the line, it will be somebody else's responsibility, but for the present the manager is content that I should keep it and so am I.

"That said, I wouldn't want to stay in the side purely because I'm the captain. If I am picked to play, I want it to be on merit alone."

For a man who has been in the cockpit for some of Ireland's most memorable successes, some of the press comment has been less than edifying. For all his presence in. midfield, he has only rarely been singled out for special merit awards. And, clearly, he is not impressed.

"I'm the first to admit that I didn't plan well in the game against Iceland but, then, neither did a lot of others," he says. "That was out of character, however, for overall I think the team has progressed in the last year.

"In that time, I believe I've played well both for Aston Villa and Ireland and some of the criticism I've had was hard to take. I've just signed a new contract for Villa, and while I can't say how long Mick McCarthy will need me for the international team, I've no intention of getting out just yet."

Only Tony Cascarino, of Townsend's team-mates here in Skopje, has been involved longer with the national team. None has been more responsive when the call came to expend huge quantities of running power on those days when it mattered most.

Now, after having influential roles in both the 1990 and '94 World Cup finals, Townsend would dearly prize the opportunity of going back to the finals for a third time, in France next year.

"Those were the highlights of my years in football and while I will be close to 35 when the finals take place in France, nothing would give me more happiness than to go back with Ireland for one last fling.

"Only those who have been there can appreciate what it means to a footballer to have the chance off playing in the World cup finals, and I would dearly like the younger fellows in the Irish squad out here, to share that experience."

On the importance of the Macedonian game and the match with Romania at Bucharest in four weeks' time, the captain has no doubts.

"Getting on for four years' ago, we went to strange places like Lithuania, Latvia and Albania, and by winning all three games made a lot of progress on the road to the World Cup finals.

"The locations now may be slightly different, but I reckon the two games we play this month can prove just as important in getting us to France next year."