Denis O'Brien has been named the FAI's Honourary Life President at the Association's AGM this weekend.

An FAI press release described Mr. O'Brien as a "vocal and valuable supporter of Irish football at all levels".

At the AGM, it was announced that Denis O'Brien was named the FAI's Honourary Life President. Mr. O'Brien has been a vocal and valuable supporter of Irish football at all levels in recent years, and the honour was bestowed upon him by the FAI Committee.

Mr. O'Brien's most notable contribution has been to partly fund the wage of the Irish management team, beginning with the appointment of Giovanni Trapattoni and Marco Tardelli in 2008. Mr. O'Brien also contributed to paying Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane, but FAI CEO John Delaney has confirmed that arrangement has come to an end.


Mr. O'Brien has a strong relationship with Mr. Delaney, and contributed to an Independent.ie documentary about the FAI CEO entitled 'John the Baptist'. During the documentary, Mr. O'Brien testified that "John Delaney could run anything. He could run UEFA. He could run FIFA, certainly better than Sepp Blatter, and more honestly".

Elsewhere, Mr O'Brien described Mr. Delaney as a "collage of people. You have the administrator, the CEO and then you have the sports buff, and then you have the personal touch", saying that the FAI "were fortunate to attract somebody of his calibre".

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