Heimir Hallgrimsson says he respects the right of Irish fans to protest against the staging of the upcoming Nations League fixtures against Israel, even if the first half delays frustrated him.
The Republic of Ireland manager was speaking after his side beat Qatar 1-0 in a friendly at Aviva Stadium on Thursday evening.
Protests interrupted the first half at junctures as groups of supporters threw tennis balls onto the pitch and flew Palestinian flags in a show of opposition against the Nations League games that are due to take place against Israel in the autumn.
In a statement, a "grassroots coalition of League of Ireland fans" said it was behind the protest, with the aim of calling for the cancellations of the two Nations League games slated for 27 September and 4 October - the latter a home fixture at Aviva Stadium.
The FAI has previously said that the Republic of Ireland will fulfil the fixtures.
Last October, Ireland manager Hallgrimsson called on Israel to be banned from international competition, likening the situation in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, describing it as "an absolute tragedy what is happening there".
In Wednesday's pre-match press conference, the Icelandic native however went on to say that it was "unfair for the players to be in this position" of having to answer questions about whether the Israel matches should be fulfilled or not..
But with the matter very much front and centre on and off the pitch on Thursday evening, the Boys in Green manager addressed how he felt the protests within the Aviva Stadium had impacted the game against World Cup-bound Qatar.
"It didn't bother me much. If I would have picked, then I would have liked the protest in the second half when we would have killed the game down," he told RTÉ Sport in the post-match press conference.
"But everybody has the right to protest, and just thinking about the football side, it's not fun for us watching a game that needs to be stopped again and again. But yeah, we respect the protest."
Meanwhile, Hallgrimsson declared himself "tactically happy" with the performances of his players during the win over Qatar who are ranked 55th by FIFA, four places above Ireland.
"We need to learn to be more ruthless when we have superiority like we had in the first half," he added.
"What we need to be thankful for is the focus level of the players in a game like this. They never lost focus or switched off during a game like this.
"Normally in games like this, some players switch off. But we didn't see that in any player on the pitch for us and that is brilliant."
The main downside was the 44th-minute red card for Jack Moylan, who had scored a hat-trick on his Ireland debut against Grenada less than two weeks ago. The Lincoln City attacking midfielder, a bright presence otherwise, was shown a straight red card for a foul on Qatar's Jassem Gaber.
The decision by Northern Irish referee Jamie Robinson was one that Hallgrimsson deemed to be very harsh.
"I just thought it was a wrong decision and a mistake from the referee," he said.
"We all make mistakes, but it was costly for Jack Moylan having played really well in the first half."
The manager added that the ex-Shelbourne player had "absolutely" done enough to stake his claim for further involvement during the Nations League campaign after his first two caps this month.
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