FAI announce new amateur Inter-Provincial tournament for UEFA Regions Cup qualification

The Football Association of Ireland have introduced a new Amateur inter-provincial tournament to determine the country's representatives for the 2024/25 UEFA Regions Cup.

The competition will feature provincial teams from Leinster, Munster, Ulster, and Connacht, competing in a round-robin format over three days. The inaugural event will be hosted by Connacht this March.

The winning team of this tournament will represent Ireland in the UEFA Regions Cup, facing teams from Northern Ireland, Switzerland, and the victor of a preliminary group including Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Sweden.

The group stage fixtures are scheduled for October, with the venue to be announced later.

FAI President Paul Cooke expressed his enthusiasm for the new tournament.

"We're delighted to confirm the creation of this new inter-provincial tournament," he said.

"With the winner of the tournament set to represent Ireland on the international stage, this creates a real competition between the representative teams to win the tournament and continue our representation at the UEFA Regions Cup, a tournament we've always represented ourselves well in.

"We will continue to operate an Amateur international team which will be made up of the best players across the country in the Amateur game but then also, Amateur players can now represent their region on the international stage, doubling the amount of opportunities for players which is a real positive for the game in the country.

"We look forward to the first edition of the competition in Connacht in March ahead of the UEFA Regions Cup group stages in October."