Now that the FAI tour-bus has been parked for another year and the international calendar is about to resume, the tendency to believe all is fine and dandy could be forgiven were it not for the presence of facts.

Facts? The word has been frequently trotted out by the custodians of the game, the Football Association of Ireland, especially during the AGM last Saturday in Cork.

Here's a sampler. "During the period that Lansdowne Road has been rebuilt, it has been suggested in some quarters that we have shifted our focus away from investing in the game," said John Delaney, the association's chief executive, from the podium.

"This is not the case and the facts speak for themselves. We have invested €240m in the game since 2010 and delivered on our remit."

Although the first part of that sentence is not disputable, albeit helped by UEFA and state funding, whether the FAI's financial woes or governance structure have been optimal for the industry's benefit is another matter.

Investment was the buzzword espoused in the visits to 43 clubs during the Festival of Football in Cork by a range of FAI staff.

It was noticeable that Roy Keane, once famously described by Delaney as an 'employee of mine', was nowhere to seen along the expanded nine-day tour of his native county and it's difficult to see him disagreeing with John Caulfield's assertion that it is, conversely, the lack of investment which leaves the League of Ireland at a standstill.

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It could be construed that seldom are Cork people satisfied until Caulfield's friendly foe, Dundalk boss Stephen Kenny, offered a similar view on RTé earlier this week, issuing what could only be considered a desperate plea for government intervention.

When the most successful Irish manager of the modern era is crying out for an external stimulus, then the landscape is far from fine and dandy. The SOS message is not one you'd see applying in the two other major field sports in the country of GAA and rugby.

For all that investment Delaney spouts about, the inescapable reality is that both on and off the pitch Ireland are lagging behind their European peers.

Brian Kerr (below) threw his tuppence worth in this week on the dearth of national marketing yet it is the substandard facilities which constitute the biggest indictment on the hierarchy. Outside of Cork City, none of the Premier Division clubs possess seated enclosures fully surrounding the pitch, and one of champions' four stands fell victim to the elements last October.

Expand Close Brian Kerr calling for changes in Irish football. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile SPORTSFILE / Facebook

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Whatsapp Brian Kerr calling for changes in Irish football. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

European results, as City's Steven Beattie confessed in Rosenborg, also trigger collateral damage. Eight blanks out of 12 matches for Ireland's representatives this season make Dundalk's feats of 2016 all the more admirable, reinforcing the belief Kenny's crew soared high in spite, not because of, the habitat they operate in. The simple fact - there's that word again - is that Irish clubs have won only two Champions League ties in the past decade.

"The performances in Europe will move us to 35th in the coefficient seedings next year," said Delaney. "That's progress. Dundalk and Cork have done really well." Really? That ascension of four places still leaves Ireland trailing the likes of Albania, Moldova and the mighty Liechtenstein. Our only hope of getting a seeded draw in next year's Champions League is by Dundalk regaining the title.

In an era of equality, the women's game mustn't be ignored either and the statistics also don't read well. Since Raheny United in 2014 became the second team in three years to reach the knockout stages of the Champions League, no side has repeated the trick. Venturing further afield garners excitement for Ireland's flag-bearers until the disparity in resources leads to a predictable outcome.

Delaney has in recent weeks been eager to make a virtue of the latest €49m turnover figure - even though it was €50m in 2009 - but there's no sign of them mirroring Iceland's €3m-per-annum injection into the domestic product.

Successful Euro and World Cup campaigns by the Nordic nation allowed them award 75pc of their profits to their clubs. As we well know, the FAI have been hamstrung by interest and repayments on their Lansdowne Road mortgage and it isn't just the League of Ireland still nursing the effects. Pay cuts across the board, hitting most the development officers Delaney cited as playing a key role in fostering the game, haven't been fully restored.

It was while defending the claim by SIPTU on their behalf that these track-suited frontliners were the first to hear the real story behind the battles encountered by the FAI to keep on the straight at narrow. At one stage, after 2012, they were only able to afford paying the interest on the loan.

"The association was dealing with an aggressive bank (Danske) who was looking to exit the Irish market at the time," the FAI stated. "We were then dealing with a hedge fund which resulted in some debt reduction but significant interest charges were implemented as a result."

And that they certainly were.

To date, the FAI has shelled out over €30m to service their loans. Delaney has still refused to put a estimate on the final cost on borrowings which stood at €38.2m in the latest accounts. Throw in the fact that the association held €21m in cash reserves back in 2007 and it represents a €60m swing in their financial fortunes over a decade.

That's after two debt-refinancing deals but the first which went to American fund KKR, as revealed during the pay negotiations, resulted in most of the €11.8m write-down getting eroded by the higher, punitive interest rate.

It illustrates the paucity of options available to the FAI five years ago once cashflow problems threw their business plan off course into Plan C. There wasn't, of course, even supposed to be a Plan B. Had their premium tickets being keenly priced and launched a bit earlier, the money to fund the game would have flowed. And that's the biggest fact of all.

Irish Independent