Cork-native O’Brien, who enjoyed more than 13 years on Leeside with Cork City, will prepare his team for the qualifying round matches against Andorra (November 12), Montenegro (November 15) and Israel (November 18).
His squad includes a first Ireland international call-up for Dublin-born Crystal Palace defender Tayo Adaramola and Cork City midfielder Oran Crowe. In all, 14 players have been selected from SSE Airtricity League clubs.
Ireland will play three games at Turner’s Cross as they bid to advance to the Elite Round of the competition with the dream to qualify for the European Under-17 Championship in Estonia.
Head Coach Colin O’Brien said: “This is a good team and each of them are here on merit. We’ve been assessing players that have come through our underage teams as well as those playing in the National League. We had a double-header in September against a very strong Russia team and that really pleased me and in October we had a training camp and in all we’ve looked at around 40 players. Tayo [Adaramola] joined us for training and he did great and I’m pleased that he’ll be a part of the squad.”
O’Brien spoke about Ireland's opponents as his team face three fixtures in seven days. He said: “What I know is that you can never under estimate the opposition. You can come up against a nation that has very strong group at underage level so you can’t take anything for granted. Andorra, Montenegro and Israel will have different footballing cultures and tournament football presents those challenges. You have to be ready to prepare for a different style in a tight time frame.”
Fans can pay at the turnstiles at Turner’s Cross. Admission to the games are €5 for Adults and free for Under 16s.
Cork City, Cobh Ramblers and FAI season ticket holders can gain free access to the games by showing their season tickets at the turnstiles.
Republic of Ireland squad
Goalkeepers: Josh Keeley (St Patrick’s Athletic), Daniel Rose (Everton)
Defenders: Gavin O’Brien (Bohemians), Oisin Hand (Shamrock Rovers), Daragh Reilly (St Patrick’s Athletic), Anselmo Garcia McNulty (Wolfsburg), Leigh Kavanagh (Bray Wanderers) Tayo Adaramola (Crystal Palace)
Midfielders: Colin Conroy (Bohemians), Kyle Conway (St Patrick’s Athletic), Oran Crowe (Cork City), Andrew Moran (Bray Wanderers), Ben McCormack (St Patrick’s Athletic), Olabosun Lawal (Watford)
Forwards: Kailin Barlow (Sligo Rovers), Evan Ferguson (Bohemians), Robert Mahon (Bohemians), Sinclair Armstrong (Shamrock Rovers) Calum Kavanagh (Middlesbrough), Oliver O’Neill (Fulham)
Fixtures
Tuesday, November 12: Ireland v Andorra, Turner's Cross, Cork, KO 7.30pm
Friday, November 15: Ireland v Montenegro, Turner's Cross, Cork, KO 7.30pm
Monday, November 18: Ireland v Israel, Turner's Cross, Cork, KO 2pm