Before the Boys in Green face Denmark next Monday in the last UEFA Nations League encounter, there is a friendly against Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
It comes about 25 years after a famously tempestuous World Cup qualifier match at Belfast's Windsor Park back in 1993.
The atmosphere will be far more cordial this time, with Northern Ireland fans joining Republic of Ireland fans in receiving awards for their support and behaviour after Euro 2016.
From the Northern Ireland perspective, much of that is down to the work of Northern Irish FA (IFA) director of football development Michael Boyd who was instrumental in implementing the 'Football For All' campaign north of the border which confronted sectarianism and other issues among the fanbase.
That came into being in 2000, shortly before ex-Northern Ireland midfielder Neil Lennon became the target of a set of supporters which ultimately forced his international retirement.
This week on Team 33, Boyd joined me to discuss how they dealt with issues like the Lennon case and the type of groundwork that took place which helped the 'Football For All' campaign improve the behaviour and atmosphere at Northern Ireland games in a relatively short period of time.
You can listen to the full interview with Michael Boyd on the podcast player or on iTunes:
Apart from Gary Neville, Ian Wright and Arsenal Fan TV founder Robbie Lyle, recent interviews on Team 33 include former Man United cult hero Andrei Kanchelskis, former Ireland striker Niall Quinn, ex-England international Carlton Palmer, former Newcastle and Everton left back Alessandro Pistone, Chelsea legends Bobby Tambling and Paddy Mulligan, Dutch legend Johan Neeskens, ex-England striker Darius Vassell, Liverpool legend David Fairclough, former Ireland midfielder Mark Kinsella, USA captain Eric Lichaj and former Everton forward Tomasz Radzinski. Plus our in-depth chats with Tony Coton, Packie Bonner, Nobby Solano, Ron Atkinson and Alan Curbishley are still available on iTunes. You can find them all in one place by subscribing to Team 33 on iTunes.
