FAI criticised for missing Oireachtas committee meeting on safeguarding

Heimir Hallgrímsson and his players emerged for their training session at Abbotstown on a brisk Wednesday morning to the clang of hammers, as a couple of workers assembled a high tarpaulin fence running along the length of the training pitch. Having spoken last month of needing to staunch an information leak, it seems the Icelander is going to great lengths to divert prying eyes.

Just over an hour later, beneath the soft and warm lights of Leinster House, Oireachtas sport committee members took it in turns to bemoan the fact they couldn’t see Hallgrímsson’s employers.