Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw and the FAI have apologised after footage emerged of members of the squad singing a pro-IRA song in the aftermath of their qualification for the World Cup in Glasgow on Tuesday night.

A video circulated on social media appeared to show the team, celebrating in their Hampden Park dressing room after the game, singing 'Ooh ah, up the 'RA' - a song associated with support of the Irish Republican Army.

The Republic of Ireland qualified for their first World Cup in 20 years and their first ever Women's World Cup following a 1-0 win over Scotland in Glasgow.

Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Pauw insisted: "The values that we carry is that we have respect for everybody.

"The first meeting with the players was about having respect, that's how we work."

Expanding on that theme, the Dutch woman added: "We're sincerely and deeply sorry for what happened and it doesn't matter if the players meant anything or not, because they didn't mean anything, because it was a celebration.

"That doesn't mean they should not realise what they were doing.

"And also, not to put it on social media, if it's in a private room it should not happen either, because of having respect for everybody, respect for the history.

"Your freedom ends where you go into the freedom of somebody else.

"The freedom of doing this is brought to an end the moment you hurt people, and we have hurt people, and we are very deeply sorry for that."

A statement from Irish football's governing body read: "The Football Association of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland Ireland women's national team manager Vera Pauw apologise for any offence caused by a song sung by players in the Ireland dressing room after the FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifying play-off win over Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday night."

Ulster Unionist Party leader, Doug Beattie MLA, said the players had "let themselves down".

"They need to understand that some of their supporters may have lost loved ones due to the murderous actions of the IRA. An apology is the least they could do."

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney said a mistake had been made but he hoped that people could move on now after a "sincere apology".

"Vera Pauw has said that she apologises from the bottom of our heart, for offence caused. You know, this is a group of people who are very tight and close knit.

"Clearly there was a mistake made after the match last night, that shouldn't have happened. I think it's acknowledged and there's a very sincere apology made. And I hope we can move on from that now," added Minister Coveney.

"Because last night was about sports primarily, an extraordinary achievement by a group of people who have qualified for the World Cup for the first time, and unfortunately there was a mistake made that shouldn't have happened.

"But I hope people will accept what is a very sincere apology that can allow us to move on from it."

Veteran player Aine O'Gorman told RTÉ Sport: 'We sang 100 songs last night and that was the one that went out. We would just like to apologise to anyone who was offended."

Chloe Mustaki also apologised for the "lapse of judgement".

"We are extremely sorry for the hurt it has caused, a lapse of judgement in the moment," she said. "We are extremely sorry and hopefully we can move past it."