Mary Hannigan listens in as Fran Rooney outlines his plans for remodellingthe FAI

"When it rains, it pours" might well have been the most appropriate motto for the Football Association of Ireland in recent years, with everything from unbuilt stadiums to rebellious captains giving their officials sleepless nights.

They will, of course, hope the future will be more tranquil now that they've appointed a new chief executive, but when they unveiled Fran Rooney at the Red Cow on the Naas Road yesterday their words of welcome were almost drowned out by the torrential shower that battered the roof of the business centre. They'll trust that there is less stormy weather ahead.

"This is a very significant day for the FAI," said president Milo Corcoran. "When we set out to recruit a CEO a few months ago we were very pleased with the array of talent and extraordinary interest shown in the position - the cream of the crop is sitting alongside me today."

So then, a poisoned chalice or a golden opportunity? Naturally enough, Rooney insisted he saw the task ahead in the latter light.

"I'm very honoured, delighted to get this opportunity, it's a great job," he said. "When Brian Kerr was appointed Irish manager he said he'd got the best job in the world. Well, I must have the second best job.

"Within half an hour of news of the 'vacancy' coming out I'd received countless text messages and phone calls from friends saying 'this is the job for you - put your name forward'. Of course it's a very big challenge, but if there was no challenge I wouldn't be sitting here today. If it was all done the job wouldn't have interested me."

"A lot done, more to do" was the central theme of Rooney's address. Now, where have we have heard that before? Perhaps he'd been talking to the Taoiseach? He had too: Bertie Ahern had phoned to wish him well.

"Football is changing, it's becoming more and more of a business these days, so I see my main job as bringing the concepts of 'business' and 'football' together. That's what I told the board when I spoke to them - I am an agent of change. Change is necessary, but the FAI know that and accept that.

"We must continue to invest in the grassroots of football, at every level, but to do that we need more money. What I hope to do is attract more funds - that is the key challenge. But to succeed we need to be more professional. Our teams, again at every level, are becoming world class - we have to support those teams by becoming a world class organisation.

"As an accountant and a businessman I'm always aware that the cake is only so big - the aim, of course, is to make the cake bigger. We must improve our image and make ourselves more attractive to sponsors, that is the key target for us. That is all a process of evolution, good things have already happened, but more must happen in the years ahead."

Any chance of a home for Irish football?

"We've put a good (stadium) proposal to the Government, it has been well received and we're waiting for a response. It's a viable and affordable plan, so hopefully it will work out."

The eircom League?

"My dream is to see an eircom League team reach the latter stages of the Champions League. That might be just a dream, but when I was a young fella the notion of Ireland reaching the World Cup finals was only a distant dream. We've reached three finals since then, so everything is possible.

"It's not something I've discussed yet with the board, but I would love to see an elite football academy in Ireland to help develop our best young players. A big step in Roy Keane's career, and part of his progress towards becoming a world class player, was when he did the FÁS football course - support structures like that are essential if we are to develop our finest talent."

Would he, like Brian Kerr, be bringing in his own team? The FAI men flanking him (Corcoran, David Blood, John Delaney, Kevin Fahy and Brendan Dillon) shifted in their chairs. "I was just appointed in the last half hour," said Rooney, "it would be reasonable to give me a chance to see what I have to do." The FAI men flanking him relaxed.

The 46-year-old Dubliner, the former head of Baltimore Technologies, hopes to put the extensive experience he garnered in the business world to good use over the next three years, the length of his contract. Beyond that?

"I don't really want to discuss my contract, but you should never put an end date on anything. It's a minimum three-year period. Whatever we achieve in three years will only be a start, it's a never ending evolution. Anyway, I read in a newspaper today that I was born in 1942, which would make me 61 - that would have me close to the FAI retirement age at the end of my contract," he grinned.

Before then, what will he hope to have achieved? "That the image of the FAI is great, that the revenue situation has improved so that we can invest more in the grassroots, that we have a feeling that we're moving in the right direction, that everything is going well for Brian at senior level, the underage teams are going well, and the eircom League is thriving."

And with that the rain ceased. All the FAI need now is for Fran Rooney to bring a little sunshine into their lives.