When the Republic of Ireland women’s team played Ukraine last month in a pivotal game for a place in the European Championship play-offs, the manager Vera Pauw and her squad were heartened to learn that the FAI had agreed to charter a flight to get the team to Kiev and back to Dublin. While not necessarily intended as such, this was a step forward in the battle for equality between the men’s and the women’s game. Important, if not quite on the scale of the issue of equal pay, which remains on the horizon. In previous years, when complaints or suggestions were made the instinct was to clamp down and smother rather than deal with the situation on its merits. When the €30 daily allowance

Source: The Times November 29, 2020 00:45 UTC