Martin O'Neill is on the brink of becoming the new Republic of Ireland manager, according to reports.

Bookmakers in Dublin suspended betting on O'Neill becoming the successor to Giovanni Trapattoni on Thursday night.

The FAI is unlikely to make an official announcement on the appointment until next week with the recruitment team of Ray Houghton and Ruud Dokter not due to present their report to the association's hierarchy until Monday.

However, the former Sunderland, Celtic and Aston Villa manager has long been the favourite for the position.

O'Neill held talks with Crystal Palace earlier this week over the vacant manager's position following Ian Holloway's departure, but appears to have decided on a move into international management.

Mick McCarthy had also been in the frame to make a return to the Republic of Ireland job.

If O'Neill is appointed, his first game in charge will be against Latvia in a friendly on November at the Aviva Stadium followed by an away game against Poland in Poznan four days later.