Martin O'Neill has reaffirmed his commitment to managing Ireland until the end of the Euro 2016 qualifying campaign at the very least - and potentially on to the Russia 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
O'Neill had been linked to the Leicester City managerial position following the departure of Nigel Pearson, before former Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri was appointed to the top job with the Foxes last week.
"I’m in charge here and I want to see this competition through" - Martin O'Neill
However, speculation has persisted that O'Neill may be tempted away from the FAI and into a club managerial position this season, a thought that O'Neill strenuously denied when speaking to RTÉ Sport's soccer correspondent Tony O'Donoghue today.
“I have a commitment here and we’re just halfway through this qualifying competition and I desperately want to try and get to France and the commitment is there, 100%," said O'Neill.
“Leicester are a very good club, it may not be the club that I’ve managed before. I was manager at the old Filbert Street and they’ve since moved grounds and their escape [from Premier League] relegation was absolutely fantastic. While there are still a number of people at the club that I worked with before it’s probably different in that sense.
“This is what I want to do. When I signed here when [FAI CEO] John [Delaney] asked me, we said we would take it up to the end of our involvement with the Euros and then we would see after that again.
“I think there was general progress with the side and maybe with the infrastructure that I was hoping to try and improve if I could.
“Obviously the FAI would have thoughts on that as well but that’s for a future conversation. I’m in charge here and I want to see this competition through here."
O'Neill also spoke about James McClean's move to West Brom from Wigan Athletic and the Derryman's desire to play at the highest level of the game.
“I think James McClean is delighted to get a chance to play in the Premiership again, which is where he feels he belongs, and that’s great for him for a start. It will give him a boost of confidence as much as anything else," said O'Neill.
Everton's James McCarthy has also been linked with a move to a bigger club this summer, with Manchester City and Tottenham reportedly interested in signing the Glasgow-born Irishman, and O'Neill admitted he is not surprised that the midfielder is attracting interest from Premier League's big boys.
“I don’t know if there’s anything to that, whether it’s speculation or not, I really don’t know," said O'Neill.
“Again, I think that Everton would want to keep him. And if he’s happy at Everton, then why not.”
