Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill said on Monday (27th June) he was "very proud" of his team following their exit from Euro 2016 after losing 2-1 to hosts France and was "happy to continue" as manager and remained hopeful that Roy Keane would stay on as his assistant.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Martin O'Neill, Republic of Ireland manager

(on 2-1 defeat to France)

"I'm still a bit, obviously, disappointed. Disappointed we couldn't carry it through, great position a half time, just the goals that we conceded, not brilliant from our viewpoint but if you take it all into consideration then obviously very, very proud. Proud of the team. Proud of the support we received and a combination of those two made it a real memorable trip for us."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Martin O'Neill, Republic of Ireland manager

(on the core of young players in his squad)

"Obviously yesterday's game is very much in the forefront of my mind, but I think that when I look back at it in the competition maybe in the next ten days or something like that, have time to think about it, then (I will) realise that those players have not only done magnificently now, but should be the bedrock of the team."

SOUNDBITE: (English) Martin O'Neill, Republic of Ireland manager

(asked if the tournament was a success)

"I think the players have performed fantastically well, we were in a tough qualification group to begin with, I'm talking about the early qualification, I see Poland and Germany are still there and I see Belgium are still there in the competition, I see Italy are still there, I see France that we certainly scared for a long period of the game. So I'll let you decide that.