RICHARD DUNNE insists he is ready to put the Republic of Ireland’s controversial World Cup exit behind him.

The Aston Villa defender was adamant he had “no feelings” regarding yesterday evening’s World Cup finals draw which will include Ireland’s conquerors France.

Dunne was spoken to on the pitch in Paris by Thierry Henry after his handball led to the goal which prompted Ireland’s downfall.

It was only afterwards Dunne realised the extent of Henry’s involvement but there is no sense of bitterness from the ex-Manchester City player.

The 30-year-old is concentrating on trying to ensure Aston Villa have a successful season as they gear up for today’s home Premier League encounter with Hull.

Dunne said: “I’m feeling good. What happened is out of the system now. It has been and gone. I’ve had three or four games with Aston Villa since I came back from Paris.

“It was disappointing at the time and you can feel sorry for yourself the day after but then it is time to move on.

“As regards the World Cup draw, I don’t have any feelings for it. It doesn’t interest me.

“France will be drawn out against somebody. In June, it will be disappointing when the finals are taking place but today it is of no interest.”

As regards Henry’s conversation with him after the game, Dunne said: “I wasn’t aware of the handball incident when he spoke to me.

“I hadn’t seen it then. I only saw it in the dressingroom afterwards on the computer. He sat down with me. He just said he’d handled it but he didn’t mean it. I hadn’t seen then how blatantly he had handled it.

“But it is one of those things. It is disappointing at the time but you move on. I had a game for Villa only two days afterwards at Burnley.

“You can talk about what happened and cry about it but it is not going to change anything and the Premier League and Aston Villa is what is important now.

“Yes, it was heartbreaking at the time but you have to concentrate again on club football and there is no point thinking about it every day.”

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill has hailed the “tremendous application” shown by Dunne since.

O’Neill was even prepared to let Dunne decide whether he wanted to play in Villa’s first fixture after that setback against Burnley at Turf Moor.

But the defender responded in typical fashion and has played four games in quick-fire succession in helping Villa chase a Champions League top-four spot and reach the semi-finals of the League Cup.

O’Neill said: “It must be very difficult for Richard to forget what happened. There must be moments when he must think what could have been.

“That will particularly hit him next summer when he is sitting around and thinking ‘that could have been me involved in South Africa’.

“But in terms of his application and professionalism, he has been excellent since coming back to us.

“In fact he has been excellent since he came here and has slotted in so well at the back.”