Dara O’Shea has said the Republic of Ireland squad will wait until after Thursday’s game against Kosovo before discussing how they approach Sunday’s contentious fixture against Israel. The Ipswich defender, who will captain the Republic of Ireland in the absence of the injured Nathan Collins, said the players will come together on Friday to talk about the Israel game. He said it was important for the squad to “speak openly” and “respect each other’s views” when they meet.
The Republic of Ireland face Kosovo in Pristina on Thursday (19:45 BST) before travelling to Debrecen in Hungary for the first of two Israel games in this international window. Ireland will also face Israel in their ‘home’ game in the Serbian town of Backa Topola on 4 October. The FAI has said Uefa rejected a request to keep the Republic of Ireland and Israel separate.
The fixtures have become increasingly contentious. There have been growing calls in Ireland for a boycott of the matches, and a protest was held at the Republic of Ireland team hotel in Dublin on Monday. The Irish Sport for Palestine Group published an open letter signed by more than 160 Irish sportspeople urging the FAI to withdraw from the fixtures because of the situation in Gaza.
O’Shea said the squad would give the matter proper time. “We’ve got to respect each other’s opinions and each other’s views and really sit down and take the time, because it deserves the time to talk about,” he said. “It’s the main thing and it’s something that can’t be brushed over. Whatever decision that we go through as players is taken as one and everybody’s view is respected as well.” He added that the players have been aware of the “noise” around the window but have tried to avoid it, staying off social media as much as possible and staying together in the international bubble. He described the situation as difficult and unusual.
For now, O’Shea stressed that the focus is on Kosovo. “We’ve got a massive game tomorrow that we’ve been preparing for,” he said. “We’ve come in on Sunday and our focus straight away was preparing for that game and giving it the amount of effort that it needs. Kosovo are a great side and we’ve been preparing for that. We spoke already at the start of the week that we’re going to come together on Friday and discuss this as a group. Tomorrow we’ve got a game to focus on, first of all. I don’t think we’ll be doing our job properly if we didn’t put our full focus into that game. Once the game’s over and Friday comes, we’re all going to come together as one.” Asked whether a boycott of the Israel games would be discussed on Friday, O’Shea said: “For us, the decision was made by the FAI, Uefa and the Government. For us as players, that’s not our decision. We’re Irish players and when called upon we come and represent our country and that’s important to know too. Obviously when we come together, we’ll speak openly about what we feel and what we feel is right. And yeah, that’ll be given its time on Friday.”
The lead-up to the window has also been marked by a dispute involving Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson. Earlier this week, Israel’s football governing body accused him of “ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity” over comments he made about facing Israel. Last week, Hallgrimsson said: “We’re not playing with genocide, we’re playing against genocide. We’re playing against Israel, we’re not playing with Israel.” The FAI did not respond publicly, but Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the Israel FA’s comments were “unacceptable” and “should be withdrawn.” On Wednesday, Hallgrimsson expressed gratitude for the support he has received while admitting “it was not clever” of him to generate headlines before the Kosovo match. “Creating and taking over maybe the headlines at the moment, what I said [in the] last press meeting we had is taking the attention away from maybe what’s most important,” he said. “We are playing an important game against Kosovo. So that was not the purpose and from a leadership point of view, it was not clever from me to take the attention like this. I need to be focused on the game, the players need to be focused on the game. But to answer the question, we’re thankful for all the support we get. It’s a tricky time for us.” Hallgrimsson has been in charge since 2024.
The wider context is the conflict in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations. Israel has repeatedly denied that it has committed genocide, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity. It says its military operations in Gaza have been conducted in self-defence and in accordance with international law.