FAI officials will meet Brian Kerr and his agent, Fintan Drury, in England today with the intention of finalising the terms of the 49-year-old's contract as manager of the Republic's senior team. Emmet Malone on the new Ireland manager's contract

Drury is believed to have flown out yesterday to meet Kerr, who was arriving in from Abu Dhabi having hurriedly rearranged his schedule after receiving news of his appointment. The hope is that the meeting with Kevin Fahy, Milo Corcoran and John Delaney, the FAI officials who interviewed the Dubliner for the job 10 days ago, will be brief and that the new man can be unveiled at a press conference in Dublin on Tuesday.

Up for discussion is the financial package that goes with the job as well as the length of the contract on offer. Sources close to the association insist the former item should not become a major issue as all of the interviewees were made broadly aware of the sort of money that was available to the association to fill the vacancy.

It is believed Kerr will be offered roughly what McCarthy was on, around £350,000 sterling, although the intention within Merrion Square has, a little ironically given the current infighting in relation to the various dealings with McCarthy at the World Cup last summer, to shift the structure of the package towards a more performance-based payment scheme.

The association had become used to operating on two-year deals with McCarthy, and given Kerr's lack of experience at senior level they may look to give the new man just the remainder of the current qualification campaign to prove himself.

It seems inconceivable, however, that the association would contemplate embarking on the whole process of finding another new manager in just 12 months, and entirely unreasonable that Kerr might be penalised for not turning around a situation that is not of his making.

In any case, Kerr and his representatives are sure to seek a deal which would bring him up to the end of Ireland's involvement with the 2006 World Cup, and it seems likely that he will get it.

There was widespread speculation over the weekend that Kerr's appointment had dealt a serious blow to the hopes of attracting Roy Keane back into the international fold, but supporters of the new manager insist he stands a strong chance of winning the Manchester United midfielder over.

"The source of Keane's disillusionment with the Irish team was what he perceived to be the poor quality of the preparations," observed a friend of the former St Patrick's Athletic manager. "Anybody who has dealt with Brian on any level knows that that is simply not going to be an issue with him in charge. It is the man's professionalism, his attention to detail that will enable him to bring Keane back on board."

Keane has indicated he wishes to sit down and discuss the situation with whoever ended up in the job and that does not appear to have changed over the past couple of weeks.

He certainly appears to have been keeping a close eye on developments in the race to get the job and apparently told John O'Shea as early as Friday morning at training about the appointment.

"I said I thought he would be a great manager for Ireland," said O'Shea, "and Roy just gave me one of his smiles. We'll know soon enough what that smile meant."

Chris Hughton, meanwhile, declined to comment last night on when his role in the new Irish set up will be discussed. The Tottenham coach is Kerr's choice as assistant manager and it is likely that his contract will also be a part of this afternoon's negotiations.

Hughton has gained a strong reputation as a coach at White Hart Lane, where he, too, started working with youth teams. He has seen a number of managers come and go but has been included in each new man's set up, and the fact that Kerr would be able to call upon his experience both as a former Irish international and as a coach used to working with senior professionals daily was seen as a key factor in clinching the job for the Dubliner.