It’s not an April Fools’ joke that Stephen Ireland is seriously considering ending his self-imposed exile from international duty.
Yet the Corkman can’t help but contradict himself every step of the way.
There was a time when every Irish press conference was dominated by questions to Giovanni Trapattoni on whether he would attempt to coax the conflicted-Cobh native back into the fold.
Back then, Ireland was posting stand-out performances at the heart of the Manchester City midfield. The press hacks continually interrogated Trapattoni on whether he had made contact with the player who had lit up Steve Staunton’s early days in the Republic hot-seat.
Repeatedly stressing that the door remained open, Trapattoni and Brady eventually made the journey to England to meet the player, an encounter that led to a quite incredible outburst from the precocious talent who accused the Italian of insincerity.
“I met Trapattoni for a chat at a hotel near Manchester Airport last year but that did nothing for me. It made no sense whatsoever. In fact, I felt like there was a lot of arrogance going on, so I just felt like I wasn’t really interested.”
Ireland’s attack continued with his accusation that the manager showed disrespect by taking phone-calls. He recalled a subsequent phone-conversation in which he claimed Trapattoni asked him if he could inform the media there was a chance he would return.
“I said ‘you can tell people we’ve spoken and maybe we’ll meet up in the future, but don’t say there’s a chance of me coming back because there probably isn’t’. As soon as he switched from talking about meeting up with me to announcing it to the media, I knew what his agenda was.”
Ireland’s withdrawal from international duty is the stuff of infamy at this stage. He has also admitted giving false information to the Irish manaegment to skip games.
“There were times I’d finish a game with City at 8pm, then I was meant to meet up with the Ireland squad at 10pm in Dublin. I’d just ring up and say I don’t feel well. There was nothing wrong with me, I just had no intention of ever going. I just never enjoyed it.”
Yet the question of his return never went away. Ireland wasn’t helped by comments from his father that he felt his son would soon make himself available. Time and again Trapattoni and his assistant at the time, Liam Brady, pointed out that they had spoken to Ireland and that he would indicate himself if he wished to come back.
The subsequent nose-dive of his career since living Eastlands allied with the Republic’s agonising exit from the World Cup play-offs meant Ireland’s name eventually disappeared from the media’s agenda.
That was until earlier this year when his fiancé Jessica Lawlor came out and revealed he wanted to play once more for his country.
And in recent days, Ireland has added further fuel to the fire by saying his children are also pressuring him to return to the international fold.
“Obviously I’ve matured as a person since then. Things are much more settled and I’m at a club where I am playing. Now the kids are putting me under pressure to play for Ireland.”
For months on end Giovanni Trapattoni, Marco Tardelli and Liam Brady batted away questions from the media about Stephen Ireland’s possible change of heart.
With growing irritation they repeated that Ireland had made himself unavailable. His current team-mate at Villa, Richard Dunne, vented his frustration at repeatedly facing the question saying Ireland didn’t want to play for his country, and asking what was the point in people putting themselves out trying to convince him?
And yet Trapattoni has refused to slam the door on Ireland. Now, as the team prepares for a first major finals in ten years, the Italian will be exasperated to arrive in Dublin for the visit of Bosnia & Herzogovina and once more be asked about a certain S. Ireland.
Yet, just as he has done all along the way of this sorry saga, Ireland can’t help but confuse the situation.
“Until the question comes from the FAI, I can’t really think about playing for Ireland right now.”
The question stopped coming years ago. He just refused to answer Ireland’s call.