Members of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) have approved an extension of the Board to 14 members in a vote which ensures the FAI will meet gender balance requirements set out by Government.
The vote was taken at an EGM of the association at the Radisson Blu St Helen's Hotel in Dublin on an outcome of 110 to 6.
Delegates voted to expand the board from 12 to 14 members. Seven football directors will be elected from the football chambers of the general assembly with at least one of the football directors to be female.
A further seven independent directors will serve on the board, including a female director with a football background.
The vote endorses the provision of measures to ensure a minimum of 40% of each gender on the board, meaning at least six but not more than eight directors of each gender on the board.
In a statement released by the FAI, president Gerry McAnaney said: "This is a very significant development for the Association and means that we will be in a position to achieve the 40% female director target set out in Government policy and specifically in the MOU (memorandum of understanding) as soon as we identify and appoint two additional female directors to the Board in January.
"While our focus in recent weeks has been on the details of the proposals and securing the support of Members, it would be easy to lose sight of the significance of this decision and the opportunity it presents to the Association to show leadership in the area of equality, diversity and inclusion.
"It is fitting that this positive development should come about in the year in which our Women's National Team took part in their first World Cup and were promoted to Euro Nations League A and the year in which we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Irish women’s participation in international football."
The memorandum of understanding signed in 2020 between the FAI and the Government required the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to have at least 40% female representation on its board by the end of this year. The Government had warned the FAI that there would be serious consequences if that target wasn’t met.
Speaking ahead of the vote, Ursula Scully of the Munster Football Association said that everyone was in favour of gender balance but that the General Assembly was nowhere near the 40% target. She added that she wanted an organisation reflective of our game but said that there had been no initiative from the FAI to promote women in the game.
This move had caused controversy within football with regard to the number of independent and football directors on the board.
Mike O'Regan from the Munster FA said that no one was against gender balance as long as things are done right but said the membership felt there had been an attempt to intimidate them ahead of the previous vote on the issue.
Outgoing independent chairman Roy Barrett said he had made the decision that FAI CEO Jonathan Hill could receive payments for holidays and travel, which led to an investigation and state funding being temporarily suspended.
Former Tesco CEO Tony Keohane, from Cork, was ratified as Barrett's replacement while Waterford native Paul Cooke was elected president, receiving 89 votes to Joe O'Brien's 21.
Cooke succeeds Gerry McAnaney, who stepped down after almost four years in office.
