Keane, a former player, is now a pundit, but for a period, he was Martin O'Neill's assistant. The pair managed to get Ireland to Euro 2016, but two years later, they left their roles.
The FAI has since hired Stephen Kenny for the full-time role, but he was relieved of his duties last November. The FAI has been searching for his successor ever since.
Names like Lee Carsley, Gus Poyet, Steve Bruce, and others have all been linked, but the job has been given to John O'Shea on a temporary basis until they find a replacement for the departed Kenny.
Keane himself has been linked with the role and, in the past, has been asked about managing the Irish team. This week, the topic of Ireland and Keane came up once again, and the Cork native explained that returning to the Irish setup would be a dream scenario for him.
“If I could manage any team in the world, it would be going back to the Republic of Ireland job," said Keane.
"I enjoyed the international setup when I was working with Martin O’Neill. I liked the dynamics and flow of international football, and it wasn’t 24 hours a day, but I was still working at a high level. The dream job would be working for the national team, but I think that ship has sailed."
Keane also confirmed that he did speak to the FAI about the Ireland job, but admitted that he never felt that the FAI's approach to appointing him was as serious as some papers made it out to be.
Picture: INPHO/Donall Farmer“I did speak to the Irish FA earlier this year, but I spoke to loads of teams. You can speak to anyone, but that doesn’t mean that anything is going to happen because the deal needs to be done, and that takes a while to be finalised. If you’re going to sit down with someone in a room, the clubs need to be serious in their approach, but a lot of the time, they aren’t and are just timewasters, just looking for headlines in the press," added Keane.
Despite claiming Ireland would be a dream job, the former United captain says he doesn't know if he will return to the rigours of senior management. The only thing that would get the Irish legend back into a managerial job would be a good one.
“I’m not sure if I will manage again. I was doing a few coaching courses before I left Celtic, and then managing at Sunderland all happened accidentally, but I loved my time there. However, what I enjoy now is that I have great freedom in my life, and I answer to nobody. I’ve got my deals with a few TV companies, but if any of them called me up tomorrow to cancel my deal, then I wouldn’t be bothered, as I’m comfortable.
“With Sunderland, I fell into it accidentally and I wasn’t sure, but I’d only return to management if the offer was good, and I don’t think that’s going to happen.
“The only thing that would get me back into management is that I believe that I would do a good job, wherever I went. Maybe that’s my ego, but if I didn’t get back into management, then I’d be fine with that.”
Roy Keane was speaking on Stick to Football, brought to you by Sky Bet.
