Image source, Inpho Image caption, Dara O'Shea says Republic of Ireland players will hold a squad meeting on Friday Published 9 minutes ago Dara O'Shea says the Republic of Ireland squad will wait until after Thursday's Kosovo game before discussing how they approach Sunday's contentious fixture against Israel.
The Republic of Ireland face Kosovo in Pristina on Thursday (19:45 BST) before travelling to Debrecen in Hungary for the first of two Israel games in this international window.
There have been increasing calls in Ireland for a boycott of the matches, with a protest held at the Republic of Ireland team hotel in Dublin on Monday.
This followed an open letter by the Irish Sport for Palestine Group, signed by over 160 Irish sportspeople, urging the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to withdraw from the fixtures because of the situation in Gaza.
O'Shea said it is important for the squad to "speak openly" and "respect each other's views" when they come together to discuss the Israel game on Friday.
"We've got to respect each other's opinions and each other's views and really sit down and take the time, because it deserves the time to talk about," he said.
"It's the main thing and it's something that can't be brushed over.
Whatever decision that we go through as players is taken as one and everybody's view is respected as well.
O'Shea, who will captain the Republic of Ireland in the absence of the injured Nathan Collins, added the players have been aware of the "noise" surrounding this window but have tried to avoid it as much as possible.
"The good thing we have as players is when we step into the squad you're in the international bubble straight away," added the Ipswich defender.
"So we've known the noise around the game and there has been, but I think we've all tried to stay off social media as much as possible and stay together." Israel FA comments on Hallgrimsson 'unacceptable' - Martin Published 16 hours ago Neutral venues and no 'away' fans - how Israel v Republic of Ireland became so contentious Published 21 hours ago Uefa rejected request to keep Republic of Ireland and Israel separate - FAI Published 4 days ago O'Shea admitted it was a "difficult" and "unusual" situation for the players, who will also face Israel in the Republic of Ireland's 'home' game in the Serbian town of Backa Topola on 4 October.
"We've got a massive game tomorrow that we've been preparing for," he said.
"We've come in on Sunday and our focus straight away was preparing for that game and giving it the amount of effort that it needs.
"Kosovo are a great side and we've been preparing for that.
We spoke already at the start of the week that we're going to come together on Friday and discuss this as a group.
"Tomorrow we've got a game to focus on, first of all.
I don't think we'll be doing our job properly if we didn't put our full focus into that game.
Once the game's over and Friday comes, we're all going to come together as one." When asked if a boycott of the Israel games will be discussed among the squad on Friday, O'Shea said: "For us, the decision was made by the FAI, Uefa and the Government.
For us as players, that's not our decision.
"We're Irish players and when called upon we come and represent our country and that's important to know too.
"Obviously when we come together, we'll speak openly about what we feel and what we feel is right.
And yeah, that'll be given its time on Friday." Making headlines 'not so clever from me' - Hallgrimsson Image source, Inpho Image caption, Hallgrimsson's comments about facing Israel prompted an angry response from the country's football association Earlier this week, Israel's football governing body accused Republic of Ireland head coach Heimir Hallgrimmson of "ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity" regarding comments he made about facing Israel.
Last week, Hallgrimsson said: "We're not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide.
We're playing against Israel, we're not playing with Israel." While the FAI did not respond publicly, Taoiseach Micheal Martin [Irish prime minister] said Israel FA's comments were "unacceptable" and "should be withdrawn".
Addressing the matter on Wednesday, Hallgrimsson expressed gratitude for the support he has received while admitting "it was not clever" of him to generate headlines in the build-up to the Kosovo match.
"Obviously, we are grateful for all the support that we have," said the Icelander, who has been in charge since 2024.
"Creating and taking over maybe the headlines at the moment, what I said [in the] last press meeting we had is taking the attention away from maybe what's most important," he said.
"We are playing an important game against Kosovo.
So that was not the purpose and from a leadership point of view, it was not clever from me to take the attention like this.
"I need to be focused on the game, the players need to be focused on the game.
But to answer the question, we're thankful for all the support we get.
It's a tricky time for us." Armed Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
In response, Israel launched a massive military offensive in Gaza, during which more than 73,000 people have been killed, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
Israel has repeatedly denied that it has committed genocide, as well as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
It says its military operations in Gaza have been conducted in self-defence and in accordance with international law.
