The Republic of Ireland's first non-competitive game with Northern Ireland at senior level has been confirmed for Lansdowne Road on May 29th. The game's receipts will go to the Omagh fund and sources in Belfast said yesterday that they hadn't ruled out the possibility of a return fixture at Windsor Park next season.

The Dublin game is part of a five-game package of friendlies announced yesterday by the FAI. It includes a European championship warm-up game against Paraguay at Lansdowne Road on February 10th and an attractive meeting with Sweden at the same venue on April 28th.

Additionally, away fixtures have been provisionally agreed with Poland on August 18th and Denmark on October 9th. In each instance, however, final confirmation is dependant on the European Championship commitments of both countries.

The Northern Ireland game will be preceded by a three-day training camp in northern France, the itinerary of which will include a match against a Brittany XI on May 25th. Squad members will, therefore, be kept active between the end of the club season in England and the European Championship games against Yugoslavia, on June 5th, and Macedonia, four days later.

Apart from the merit of the cause, the meeting of the two Ireland teams will be seen as a further step in the normalisation of relations between Dublin and Belfast. In the last 20 years, the countries have met only when the draw in World Cup and European Championships qualifiers ordained that they do so.

With the ratification of this fixture, the hope is that it will lead to a greater rapport in the future. Members of the Northern Ireland squad have already indicated that they will donate their match fees to the Omagh fund and this is expected to be matched with a corresponding gesture by the Republic's players.

Republic manager Mick McCarthy, who is already closely identified with the Omagh fund after managing an International XI which played Derry City in a fundraising game at the Brandywell in October, said he was delighted that the project would benefit from the international fixture.

The game against Paraguay will be a first and while some may question the benefits of a meeting with a South American team as a means of preparing for an European championship fixture, it will still have appeal.

When all efforts to secure European opposition failed, the FAI sought to arrange a game against Jamaica. This, too, proved impractical and in the circumstances they will be happy to have done a deal with Paraguay.

Paraguay drew with Bulgaria and Spain in their opening two games in the World Cup finals in the summer before making certain of a place in the last 16 with a 3-1 win over and understrength Nigerian team in their final qualifying game.

That took them to a second round meeting with eventual champions France at Lens and after some heroic defence by Celso Ayala, Carlos Gamarra and not least flamboyant goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert, they defied the odds until the 113th minute when Laurent Blanc's goal put France through to the quarterfinals.

Sweden were among the more surprising casualties in the quest for places in France `98, but they also demand respect on their first visit to Dublin in 29 years. They are currently riding high in Group Five, having beaten England in Stockholm.

The downside of the package is that it does not include a game against England. With Glenn Hoddle's team committed to a February 10th meeting with France at Wembley, there was reason to hope that Ireland would be allocated one of England's two vacant dates in April and October.

One of those who will welcome the prospect of a possible 10-game programme in 1999 is Niall Quinn. The Sunderland striker is looking forward to the challenge of poaching the four goals needed to enable him to join his old Arsenal clubmate, Frank Stapleton, as Ireland's leading scorer with 20.

After a spate of goals for his club this season, he hopes to conclude an improved three-year contract with Sunderland manager Peter Reid in the next few days.

Mick McCarthy will be watching developments closely. After appearing to write the tall striker out of his plans because of injury, McCarthy now views him as one of the key members of his squad.