IRELAND manager Heimir Hallgrimsson has said he is thankful for the support he received following criticism from the Israel FA.
However, the Icelander conceded his comments might have drawn attention away from his side's Nations League games and said the focus now was on tomorrow's clash with Kosovo.
Meanwhile, Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne has said it is not too late for the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) to refuse to play the games against Israel, the first of which is scheduled for this Sunday.
'Not clever from me'
Hallgrimsson said last week of the Israel games that Ireland was 'playing against genocide', reflecting a categorisation by many humanitarian organisations of Israel's actions in Gaza.
"We’re not playing with genocide, we're playing against genocide," he said.
"We're playing against Israel, we're not playing with Israel."
This week, the Israel FA hit out at the Ireland manager, posting on Twitter/X: "We're not playing with ignorance, hypocrisy and stupidity, we're playing against the coach who embodies them."
The comments were criticised by Taoiseach Micheál Martin, who described them as 'unacceptable' and called for them to be withdrawn.
"Israel can't keep denying what the world knows and what the world understands," he added.
Speaking today at the Fadil Vokrri Stadium, where Ireland face Kosovo tomorrow, Hallgrimsson welcomed the support he had received but suggested his comments had caused a distraction.
"Obviously we are grateful for all the support we have," he said.
"Creating and taking over the headlines at the moment, what I said at the last press meeting we had, it's taken the attention away from what's most important, we are playing an important game against Kosovo.
"That's not the purpose and maybe from a leadership point of view not clever from me to take the attention like this.
"I need to be focussed on the game, the players need to be focussed on the game but to answer the question, we are thankful for all the support we get.
"It's a tricky time for us."
Ireland team 'hung out to dry'
Since the teams were drawn to play each other, there have been calls for the FAI to boycott the fixtures but the games are set to go ahead at neutral venues.
No Ireland fans are permitted at either game, although a small number of Israel fans will be allowed to attend their 'home' fixture in Hungary this Sunday.
Ireland's 'home' game will take place in Serbia the following Sunday, October 4.
Ms Byrne, Sinn Féin's spokesperson on sport, said following the Israel FA's comments about Hallgrimsson that 'it is not too late for the FAI to do the right thing'.
"Heimir Hallgrimsson rightly called out what is happening in Gaza as a genocide," she said on Tuesday.
"The attempts by the Israel FA to bully and provoke someone representing our country on the international stage should be condemned by all.
"But this provocation was also entirely predictable. Heimir Hallgrimsson and Ireland's players should never have been put in this position in the first place.
"While the double standards of UEFA and the Irish government's failure to show leadership on this issue must be called out, if the FAI truly had their players' interests at heart, then they would have made the brave but correct decision to refuse to fulfil these fixtures.
"Instead, players and management have been hung out to dry by the board of the FAI who have stubbornly refused to take on board the public support for refusing to fulfil fixtures against Israel — calls supported by trade unions representing their workers and the PFA Ireland representing Irish footballers."
She added: "If the FAI continues to look the other way, and any player, as an individual or a group of players, publicly decide to take the decision not participate in these games, then they should take comfort from the overwhelming outpouring of support, both domestically and internationally, for the stance taken by Macklemore, and the acts that stood in solidarity with him in recent weeks.
"But let's be very clear, it should not come to that.
"These games should not proceed and the responsibility for ensuring that they don't now lies firmly with the FAI.
"It is not too late for the FAI to do the right thing by its management, players and supporters."
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