In May 2016, just ahead of the Euro 2016 tournament in France, where Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane led the Ireland football team to a second-round exit, the board of the Football Association of Ireland met. John Delaney, the FAI’s chief executive since 2004, warned the board it would not be “responsible” to sanction full pay restoration for FAI staff who took “temporary” pay cuts of 10%-15% in 2012. He advised that a 3% restoration would be as far as they could go, due to financial constraints.

At the end of the meeting, Delaney was asked to leave by Tony Fitzgerald, then the FAI president, so the rest of the board could discuss an audacious request from Delaney. He wanted his contract, which was due