Former Meath Chronicle reporter lands top job with FAI

Meath native Cathal Dervan has been appointed Director of Public Relations & Communications for the FAI and will join the Association in April from The Irish Sun having having served as sports editor for the last seven years.

Long associated with football in Meath, the Dunsany man brings a wealth of journalistic experience across all media platforms to the position.

FAI Chief Executive John Delaney said: "These are exciting times for the game in Ireland and for the development of our sport and I am delighted to welcome Cathal to the executive management team at the FAI in this newly restructured role.

"There is a lot to look forward to about Irish football with the appointments of Mick McCarthy and Stephen Kenny as managers of our Senior Men’s and Under-21 teams.

"As we move forward we have recently agreed a new ticketing arrangement with our supporters ahead of the European qualifiers.

"We also welcome the recent debate on domestic football ahead of the return of the SSE Airtricity League of Ireland.

"Our grassroots family continues to grow and we look forward to the staging of events such as the UEFA Under-17 European Championships in May, the EURO 2021 qualifying series for our Republic of Ireland Women’s Senior team, the hosting of four games at EURO 2020 and the Centenary celebrations in 2021.

"We are also about to introduce new governance procedures at an EGM in early February and how we communicate all of this going forward is very important to the Association, I wish Cathal and the team the very best."

Incoming Director of Public Relations and Communications, Cathal said: "I am really excited about this new position and cannot wait to lead the excellent communications team at the FAI.

"Football has been my passion since the age of seven and I am really enthused by the opportunity to work with Irish football from Grassroots level all the way up to the SSE Airtricity League and the Senior Men’s International Team.

"I would like to thank everyone at The Irish Sun for their support over the last seven years."

The FAI Board of Management also congratulates Cathal and look forward to working with him in this new role from April.

Cathal joins Karen Campion at this level after she was recently promoted to Director of Business Partnerships and Strategy.