Cracks in women's game highlights needs to build a bridge

A tense Eileen Gleeson press conference on Thursday laid bare a problem in the women's game here that looks unlikely to be solved very quickly.

Earlier this week, Athlone Town boss Ciaran Kilduff bemoaned the Republic of Ireland's lack of communication with managers in the SSE Airtricity Women's Premier Division regarding the best talent in the league.

"The question was put to me, have I ever gotten a call from an Eileen Gleeson or the head of women's football (Hannah Dingley)," said Kilduff. "I haven't is the answer. Is that damning because I'm managing the champions who are going to the Champions League and have a load of young Irish girls? I would say yeah."

After announcing her squad for the upcoming Euro 2025 play-off semi-final against Georgia yesterday, Gleeson was asked for a response.

"We watch players every single week in the League of Ireland," she said. "And I, over 30 years, have been the biggest advocate of League of Ireland and its inception at National League and promoting League of Ireland players being integrated with international pathways.

"So statements that we don't watch players are completely inaccurate."

Gleeson became frustrated at the line of questioning, eventually exclaiming: "You should have brought Ciaran in today. This is the squad announcement, so I'm done talking about Ciaran Kilduff."

The Dubliner pointed out that she has given several players from the league a chance. Erin McLaughlin, Freya Healy, Ellen Dolan, Jess Fitzgerald, Eva Mangan, Julie-Ann Russell and Katie Keane have all been brought into various Ireland squads over the last year, though only Russell and McLaughlin - who is now at Portsmouth - have gotten on the pitch.

Kilduff's contention is that without the home-based sessions -