Finn Harps to open 2017 season against Cork City -10 team top flight from 2018

The fixtures for the new League of Ireland season have been released today with Finn Harps kicking off their campaign at home to FAI Cup winners Cork City on Friday.
The opening round of fixtures are on February 24.
The first Northwest Derby occurs at Finn Park on March 25th as Harps take on Sligo Rovers, while the first meeting with Derry occurs on April 14th at Maginn Park Buncrana.
Meanwhile, the FAI has confirmed that the SSE Airtricity League will switch to a 10-team, two division structure from the 2018 season. This means Harps must finish at least 9th next year to guarantee top flight survival
Following a proposal from the Premier Clubs Alliance (PCA), the Board of the Football Association of Ireland ratified the change of format for the 2018 campaign.