Stephen Kenny looking to go to Euros after signing new contract

Republic of Ireland Stephen Kenny says his aim is clear after signing a contract extension with the FAI earlier this week which will take him to the end of Euro 2024.

Germany was the country in which the Ireland first competed at a major championships 34 years ago, and the Dubliner is now targeting a return when the competition goes back there in just over two years time.

"The ambition is to go to Germany and qualify for the European Championships," he said.

"That's the big ambition - the dream - to go back to where Ireland started in their first ever European Championships."

After going 24 years without appearing in the competition, the Republic made back to back finals in 2012 and 2016, reach the last-16 of the latter tournament in France.

After a period of experimentation, Stephen Kenny anticipates further improvement from his Ireland side. pic.twitter.com/cOJ7ntb9XF

They missed out last time having lost a play off to Slovakia on penalties.

Kenny was in the job at that stage after Covid-19 pushed back the pan-Europe staging of the competition by a year. This in-turn pushed the fixture with the Slovaks back past July, the date of the end of previous manager Mick McCarthy's contract.

Thus, Kenny was thrown in at the deep end, but the Dubliner says he wants to get things right this time around.

"We want to go back to Stuttgart, or wherever it is," he said.

"No stone will be left unturned in attempting to do that. We have to try and achieve that, and do everything we can to get there with this team.

"They're all at different stages of their career. There are players who it's maybe their last opportunity to get to a European Champions, and some who have their whole careers ahead of them who want to make their mark in in international