Méabh de Búrca laments axeing of FAI's Emerging Talent Programme

Former Republic of Ireland international Méabh de Búrca said the FAI's decision to disband their Emerging Talent Programme is a major blow to aspiring male and female Irish footballers.

At their AGM last Saturday, the association confirmed the programme would no longer be continuing as part of wider financial cuts, with a greater responsibility on clubs to develop talented young players.

The programme was launched in 2006 for girls and boys aged 12 to 15 years old. It boasts several high-profile graduates, including Troy Parrott, who scored four goals for AZ Alkmaar in their hammering of SC Heerenveen in the Eredivisie at the weekend.

De Búrca, capped 52 times for her country, was also part of the programme in her formative years, and fears it is a damaging step backwards.

"That was the biggest disappointment I think that I took away from (the AGM)," she told the RTÉ Soccer Podcast.

"I would have been one of the first years of the Emerging Talent Programme.

"At that stage we were mixed in with the boys and it was pivotal to my own development as an international. They're putting the onus now back on the League of Ireland clubs but at that crucial age between 12 and 15, I think they originally had 12 Emerging Talent centres across the country, that had been cut previously to eight and now it's cut completely.

"I think that's huge, putting that entire onus on the clubs isn't good enough. You're not getting the best players in the region training together and that is how the standards are going to be raised.

"I think something like that isn't taking a huge amount of the funding. It could have been taken maybe from other areas that aren't as pivotal in the development of the players."

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