John O’Shea has said the Republic of Ireland squad are fully behind Seamus Coleman’s stance on the controversial fixtures against Israel later this year.

Ireland have been drawn against Israel in the UEFA Nations League and are set to face them twice, the first of those matches on September 27th, and the second set to take place at the Aviva Stadium on October 3rd.

Seamus Coleman came out with a strong statement on the subject before Ireland’s friendly against Qatar last month, and now Ireland assistant boss John O’Shea has agreed with the Donegal man.

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Seamus Coleman during a Republic of Ireland men’s media conference. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

‘We’ll be 100% behind Séamus’ answer, and we fully respect any of the players’ opinions on the scenario,’ O’Shea said. ‘It’s only going to get stronger and stronger, that opinion, the public opinion, and you’re fully aware of it.’

‘What Séamus said, being a dad, I have three kids myself, nobody wants to see innocent kids being involved in scenarios like that. Nobody…It’s not right, and listen, the FAI have made their statement on it, Heimir has spoken about it, and I’d echo that sentiment as well.’

Boycotting the matches could see Ireland hit with UEFA punishment, and O’Shea, like Hallgrímsson, would prefer not to suffer sporting sanctions, but insisted that he’s aware of public sentiment.

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John O’Shea. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile

‘You don’t want to lose any sporting advantage. But we totally understand the nation’s feelings, and for us to be involved in this scenario, it’s not right,’ John O’Shea said.

‘Any sanctions that affect Irish football, in the sense of sporting sanctions- losing games, having defeats, giving an advantage to other teams- it’s not right. Hopefully, the authorities, the government, and UEFA can resolve it for us.

‘We have to respect everyone’s opinion on it, people’s right to peaceful protests as well. We fully understand that, because like I mentioned, innocent children being involved in scenarios, it’s harrowing stuff.’