This year was the 12th year the Festival of Football has visited clubs in a different county in the build-up to the AGM to promote and recognise the work done at grassroots level.
The 2018 Festival of Football was the biggest in the history of the association, with former Republic of Ireland internationals Ray Houghton, Richard Dunne, Stephen Hunt, Stephen Kelly and Kevin Kilbane alongside current Ireland WNT internationals Roma McLaughlin, Amber Barrett and Amanda Budden visiting clubs around Cork.
Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill and Ireland WNT Head Coach Colin Bell led a delegation of international coaches that toured the county as part of the Festival of Football over the course of the course of eight days.
Among the highlights of the 2018 Festival of Football include:
- 43 grassroots clubs visited
- Over €1million in funding given to grassroots clubs
- More than 4.8million people reached on social media
At the AGM, it was announced that Denis O'Brien was named the FAI's Honourary Life President.
Mr. O'Brien has been a vocal and valuable supporter of Irish football at all levels in recent years, and the honour was bestowed upon him by the FAI Committee.
It was also announced that registrations for Volunteering at UEFA EURO 2020 and the 2019 UEFA Under-17 Championships has opened, with the Association looking to have the Irish public become involved in what promises to be two special events.
Interested participants can sign up at http://www.fai.ie/domestic/volunteers
At a Special Meeting of Council, Donal Conway was elected President of the FAI, replacing the out-going Tony Fitzgerald, with Noel Fitzroy elected to the role of Vice-President.