The exciting news we had all been waiting for was confirmed on Thursday morning - the Ireland WNT will play England at the Aviva Stadium in their first home game of the EURO 2025 qualifiers.
Not only that, but the visit of Sweden on May 31 will also be held in the Aviva, in a massive boost for the team ahead of what is set to be a historically challenging qualifying campaign.
There is still one unknown, however, and that is where the closing game of the campaign against France will take place. The FAI have confirmed that the Aviva Stadium is unavailable for that July 16 game - but they did not go so far as to confirm that the game will take place in the traditional home venue of Tallaght Stadium. Their social media post said:
With the Aviva Stadium unavailable in July, a venue for France game will be confirmed soon.
Though many will anticipate that that will mean a return to Tallaght, the more intriguing proposition of bringing the game to a bigger venue would hand the FAI an opportunity to reach fans outside Dublin.
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Ireland's EURO 2025 fixtures present a golden opportunity
The news of a return to the Aviva Stadium for the Ireland WNT is fantastic news and is recognition of the rapidly growing fanbase for the team in this country.
Last year's Nations League game against Northern Ireland was an emotional day, as 35,000 fans travelled to Lansdowne Road to welcome the Girls in Green back on home soil after their exploits at the World Cup down under.
23 September 2023; Republic of Ireland supporters celebrate after Lucy Quinn of Republic of Ireland scored her side's first goal during the UEFA Women's Nations League B1 match between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile
One would have to assume that an even bigger crowd will welcome England on April 9, for a multitude of reasons. The outstanding Nations League campaign last winter has built hope that this Ireland team can begin to mix it with the best, especially with major tournament experience now under their belt. The EURO qualifiers will also naturally be a more vital fixture in the eyes of many fans.
Plus, it's England. Not only are they the old enemy, but it has been 38 years since the Ireland WNT faced them, and they come to Dublin as defending European champions and World Cup runners-up. It could scarcely be a more enticing prospect.
The hope will be that the game against Sweden will achieve similar numbers and, if Ireland do get a result against England, who's to say that won't sell out too?
So what of the French game then? That game will be expected to sell just as well as the Swedish clash, if not even more so, but the national stadium is unavailable for use. Tallaght will almost certainly be too small to meet demand for tickets, leaving the RDS as a natural Dublin-based venue to consider.
There is, however, a far more enticing prospect should the game be moved away from Tallaght.
21 June 2012; The Republic of Ireland team, along with team mascots eight-year-old Alix, front left, and her nine-year-old sister Jesse Mendez, from Carrigaline, Co Cork. Women's European Championship Qualifier, Republic of Ireland v Scotland, Turner's Cross, Cork. Picture credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
By the time the game against France rolls around, it will have been over 12 years since the Ireland WNT played a home game outside of Dublin - the EURO 2013 qualifiers against Scotland and Wales taking place in Turner's Cross in Cork in June 2012.
The following year saw Tallaght firmly established as the home venue for the women's team, and they have remained there for every home game since - bar last September's Aviva date with Northern Ireland.
With interest booming in the Ireland WNT, the FAI have been provided a golden opportunity to bring a massive competitive game outside of Dublin and reach fans in a new area of the country.
Ticket sales for the games against England and Sweden will almost certainly supersede the 16,500 capacity of Dublin's RDS, so the obvious move here is to bring the game against France to a stadium which can hold that amount of spectators.
8 September 2009; The teams line up in front of a sparcely populated Thomond Park before the game. International Friendly, Republic of Ireland v South Africa, Thomond Park, Limerick. Picture Credit: Brendan Moran / SPORTSFILE
Thomond Park in Limerick would jump out as an immediate candidate to fill this space. It has hosted international football before, with a poor turnout the most memorable element of the 2009 friendly for the men's team against South Africa while Lansdowne Road was in the midst of refurbishment.
With a seated capacity of upwards of 25,000 when temporary seating is put in place, Thomond could well sell out if the game was marketed well and the team were to deliver on their promising form of late in the early fixtures of the campaign.
Another obvious alternative if the FAI were to shoot even higher would be the splendid SuperValu Pairc Uí Chaoímh in Cork.
There was consternation when a testimonial match was proposed for the venue to remember the late Corkman Liam Miller in 2018 but, ultimately, the game was a tremendous success. A sellout crowd watched Manchester United and Ireland legends take to the field on the banks of the River Lee.
21,000 seats are built into the North and South stands and, though both terraces would pose an issue, a potential solution could be to install temporary seating such as that used in Croke Park during the men's team's stint playing there in the late 2000s.
The recent brilliant success of Munster's sellout victories over South Africa and the Crusaders in the venue have also shown Pairc Uí Chaoímh's versatility.
10 November 2022; Dan du Preez of South Africa Select XV wins possession in the lineout during the match between Munster and South Africa Select XV at Páirc Ui Chaoimh in Cork. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
With Denise O'Sullivan and Megan Connolly both stars of this Ireland team and hailing from Cork, bringing the French game to the city would provide fans an opportunity to see their heroes in the flesh.
Travelling to Dublin is a hefty ask for fans outside of the capital city, and it has now been over a decade since any Ireland senior team played a home game anywhere else in the country.
Interest in women's football is booming in this country off the back of the monumental achievement by the Ireland WNT in reaching last summer's World Cup. Even if their EURO 2025 qualifying group has presented an enormous challenge, Ireland are still well-placed to qualify for the finals in Switzerland.
The draw is arguably the toughest any Ireland senior team has ever faced in a qualifying group. With the calibre of opposition the highest it has ever been, and Ireland rising to meet the challenge, the time has never been better to capitalise on the ever-growing interest in women's football.
Tallaght reverberates on any international night with screams and cheers any time the likes of Katie McCabe or Denise O'Sullivan get on the ball. The prospect of bringing that spectacle to an area of the country which has not tasted international football in years is surely something the FAI must explore if Tallaght is not the venue for the visit of France in July.
It comes with risk, of course, but if the FAI are confident that they can sell out the Aviva for the game against Sweden, then a venue of similar stature away from Dublin must be considered for the game against France.
Here's hoping.
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