The Hibernia Trophy has developed into one of the top schoolboy tournaments in the country and once again a stellar selection of entries are present including Celtic FC, Norwich City FCSunderland FC, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, Nottingham Forest FC, the hosts St Joseph’s Boys, the Republic of Ireland Development Squad and Northern Ireland Development Squad.
This tournament has become the traditional starting point on the international ladder for Ireland's underage players. These players have been selected after appearing in the SFAI Kennedy Cup with their leagues or having being identified in the Emerging Talent Programme nationally.
"The main point of the competition for us is that it involves using players who've been spotted in the Kennedy Cup and assessed so it's part of our development programme," said O'Brien.
"For these players its an opportunity to play high level games. They are not international games as such but will set things up nicely for when the international programme pushes on in September.
"This tournament ties in with the assessments we've done in the centres in the regions around the country over the summer.
"The players get to play teams from English and Scottish academies so the games will probably be a higher level and higher pace than what they may be used to. They may also play different styles of play."
O'Brien's charges commence their Hibernia Trophy programme against the host clubs St Joseph's Boys on Friday then play the academies of Sunderland and Leicester City on Saturday. On Sunday they will have a classification game to be determined by their final group position.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND DEVELOPMENT SQUAD
Kian Clarke (St Kevin's Boys)
Harry Clarke (Cherry Orchard)
Nathan Collins (Cherry Orchard)
Kameron Ledwidge (St Kevin's Boys)
Kevin O'Reilly (Cherry Orchard)
Katlego Mashigo (St Kevin's Boys)
Barry Coffey (Nenagh AFC)
Elvis Azah (Deen Celtic)
Seanie Mahon (Cherry Orchard)
Caelin Rooney (Clashmore Ramblers)
Andrew Farrell (Cherry Orchard)
Tyreik Wright (Lakewood)
Adam Idah (Corinthians Boys)
Ciaran Brennan (East End Utd)
Mark Walsh (Gweedore Celtic)
Dean Murphy (Mervue Utd)
Ray O'Sullivan (St Kevin's Boys)
Conor O'Reilly (Bonagee Utd)
FIXTURES
Friday, August 14
Republic of Ireland Development Squad v St Joseph’s Boys, Pearse Park, Sallynoggin (6.00pm)
Saturday, August 15
Republic of Ireland Development Squad v Sunderland, Pearse Park, Sallynoggin (11.00am)
Republic of Ireland Development Squad v Leicester City, Pearse Park, Sallynoggin (2.30pm)
Find out more about Hibernia Trophy 2015 here