Niall Quinn is taking a central role in Irish football’s power play after committing to discussions with both Shane Ross and Noel Mooney. Photo: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Niall Quinn is taking a central role in Irish football's power play after committing to discussions with both Shane Ross and Noel Mooney.

Quinn is heading up a group of business people that came together to form a proposal for the League of Ireland but their brief has widened out to the overall governance of football here.

His group are set to be involved in the stakeholders forum organised by Minister for Sport Shane Ross for Mansion House next Friday. All FAI staff have also been invited to attend that event.

Quinn has also spoken with the FAI's new interim boss Noel Mooney and they will be sitting down in the coming weeks.

Ross was opposed to the FAI bringing in Mooney as a stopgap option for six months on a secondment from UEFA.

Former Ireland striker Quinn and his associates have engaged with both camps and are likely to take a key part in discussions around the establishment of a new board structure.

The current FAI hierarchy remain in crisis mode with UEFA set to send their finance director Josef Koller to Dublin next month to assess the depth of the FAI's financial problems.

UEFA are set to provide the FAI with up to €10m as a 'safety net' to help them through a challenging spell with six different investigations ongoing. Koller is set to be a regular visitor as part of the process.

Liquidity is understood to be a concern. FIFA are also willing to provide support - after their officials reminded Ross and Sport Ireland on rules barring government intervention.

Irish Independent