Denise O'Sullivan: I voiced my opinion but respect new management

DENISE O’SULLIVAN SAYS she is moving past Colin Healy’s acrimonious exit, out of respect for the new management team.

The Irish centurion has heavily criticised the FAI following the dismissal of the former senior women’s team assistant coach in December.

Healy was relieved of his duties alongside manager Eileen Gleeson after Ireland’s failure to qualify for Euro 2025, and later went public with a blistering statement, rebuking the Association.

The former Ireland international claimed chief football officer Marc Canham broke a verbal agreement in relieving him of his duties and slammed the FAI over what he believes is a lack of “transparency and compassion”. In response, Canham insisted that Healy wasn’t given “any absolute guarantees or assurances” that his contract would be renewed.

Several other players have publicly shared their disappointment at how Healy was treated, with O’Sullivan the most vocally critical of the FAI — and supportive of her fellow Corkonian.

“The situation is over but I voiced my opinion weeks ago because of how strongly I felt about the situation,” said O’Sullivan.

“I 100% support Colin. He was great for the team. Such a genuine man, a great coach and ultimately it wasn’t good enough in my eyes.”

While captain Katie McCabe confirmed she did not take part in the review, after which the FAI board decided not to renew Gleeson and Healy’s contracts, O’Sullivan said she spoke to FAI chiefs directly “a few times”.

The North Carolina Courage captain was supportive of continuity, but believes the players ultimately made no contribution towards the final call.

“Yes. But look, it’s not my decision. It never is the decision of the players. It was an FAI decision. They make the decisions and it’s their opinion.” 

Ireland began life under new boss Carla Ward with a 1-0 win over Türkiye at Tallaght Stadium on Friday night, and O’Sullivan says she is compartmentalising and focusing on football ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Slovenia.

“I had to change my mindset immediately when I came here (to Ireland camp). I voiced my opinion but I respect Carla a lot and I respect the staff a lot. I must switch my mindset to move forward.”

Asked if the FAI need to draw a line under it, O’Sullivan simply responded: “Yeah.”

Meanwhile, O’Sullivan is urging patience as Ireland look to implement a new playing style under Ward. The midfield maestro insists the Girls In Green can play possession-based football, but stresses it will take time to adjust to changes.

“It is not going to happen overnight,” said O’Sullivan, echoing the words of her teammate Megan Campbell.

“The way Carla wants to play is going to take a lot of games for us to be able to do that. But it is exciting that she wants us to play football. We have the players to do it.

“Lots of us are playing that sort of football at our clubs, at a really high level. The younger players coming through need a lot of time together to be able to do it. It is going to take months, even a year to be able to play that type of football. But I am really excited.”