Five Cork players included in Ireland squad

Five Cork players have been included in Vera Pauw's provisional Republic of Ireland squad for two upcoming friendlies.

It was confirmed this morning that the Girls in Green will take on Denmark and Belgium in April.

Cork City's Eabha O'Mahony is included, as is her former City team mate Saoirse Noonan who recently moved to Shelbourne.

Former City striker Clare Shine is also included, as are midfielders Megan Connolly and Denise O'Sullivan.

Ireland will host Denmark in Tallaght on Thursday April 8th, followed by a trip to face Belgium three days later. 

The games will be part of their preparations for the World Cup qualifiers which kick off in September.

Speaking on the announcement, Pauw said “there were a lot of positives to take from our EURO qualifying campaign, but this is a new tournament and that means we have to focus on that. The goal is to qualify for the finals in Australia and New Zealand, but we know that it won’t be easy, and we must wait to discover our opponents in the Qualifying Draw. 
 
“Hopefully by the time that we play our first qualifying game at home in Tallaght Stadium we will have our wonderful supporters there to cheer the team on. But we must continue to follow the advice from the Government and HSE until it is safe for supporters to return.

"We are really looking forward to getting this campaign started and being on the pitch together again. This is a very special group of players and staff who work incredibly hard to represent their country with pride. It is a privilege to work with them in every camp that we have."

Republic of Ireland WNT Provisional Squad 
Goalkeepers: Grace Moloney (Reading), Courtney Brosnan (West Ham United), Marie Hourihan (SC Braga), Niamh Reid-Burke (Peamount United) 
Defenders: Keeva Keenan (Celtic), Claire O’Riordan (MSV Duisburg), Louise Quinn (Fiorentina), Diane Caldwell (North Carolina Courage), Niamh Farrelly (Glasgow City), Claire Walsh (Peamount United), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Éabha O’Mahony (Cork City), Áine O’Gorman (Peamount United) 
Midfielders: Emily Whelan (Shelbourne), Megan Connolly (Brighton & Hove Albion), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Jamie Finn (Shelbourne), Hayley Nolan (London City Lionesses), Ruesha Littlejohn (Birmingham City), Alli Murphy (London City Lionesses), Ellen Molloy (Wexford Youths), Jessica Ziu (Shelbourne), Katie McCabe (Arsenal) 
Forwards: Heather Payne (Florida State University), Leanne Kiernan (West Ham United), Isibeal Atkinson (Celtic), Amber Barrett (FC Koln), Rianna Jarrett (Brighton & Hove Albion), Kyra Carusa (HB Hoge), Saoirse Noonan (Shelbourne), Clare Shine (Glasgow City), Stephanie Roche (Peamount United)