The Dealer hears that a former assistant general secretary at the Department of Agriculture has been appointed to the board of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI).

Martin Heraghty retired in 2013 after holding a range of positions in the Department including head of corporate affairs.

He was also centrally involved in the management of the foot-and-mouth disease outbreak, the dioxin crisis and the horsemeat incident.

Heraghty was previously on the board of directors of Teagasc and is the Sligo Rovers chair.

He was elected on to a 12-person interim board at the FAI’s AGM as a League of Ireland representative.