After a near eight-month search for a new national team men’s manager, the Republic of Ireland have made the surprise appointment of Heimir Hallgrímsson. The 57-year-old, a qualified dentist, is best known for being joint-coach – with Lars Lagerbäck – of the Iceland team that reached the Euro 2016 quarter-finals, most famously beating England in Nice on the way, and was most recently coach of Jamaica.
His predecessor, Stephen Kenny, was sacked in November after another Irish failure to qualify for a major tournament – their last such appearance was at Euro 2016. John O’Shea has been caretaker for Ireland’s four friendlies since then, even pulling off a June win over Euro 2024 finalists Hungary before a 3-0 loss to Portugal ended that tenure.
