“We can’t keep talking about it,” said John O’Shea this week when he was asked for the 476th time how this Irish team might have fared if it had Declan Rice in midfield. Or Jack Grealish out wide. He was, of course, right. We really, really need to let it go. Has the English press been pestering Lee O’Carsley about the loss of, say, English-born Max O’Leary and Will Smallbone to Ireland? No. Bitter as they might still be, they’ve moved on, and so should we.
Besides, Rice and Grealish’s defections are hardly current affairs, it’s been a whole 5½ years since Rice’s betrayal and nine Grealish did the dirt on us, so we should be well over it by now. And we will be. Soon. Once we come to terms with our trouncing in the Rebellion of 1798.
This might not be news to most, but it was only this week that some of us learned that Grealish consulted a priest before switching allegiances to England in 2015, the chat probably going along the lines of “bless me father for I have sinned ... I have had dirty thoughts about wearing Three Lions on my chest”.
How true this is, Lord knows. It was found on a Christian website that had a piece analysing how many of England’s 2022 World Cup squad were, well, Christians. Some of the research was a little iffy, to be honest, such as the speculation over whether Luke Shaw is a Muslim.
Premier League round-up: Gabriel Jesus haunts Crystal Palace again as Arsenal close gap at top
Jimmy Dunne scores late winner as in-form QPR come from behind to beat Preston
New boss Ivan Juric ready for ‘really big challenge’ at Southampton
‘Proud’ Pep Guardiola defends Erling Haaland as Manchester City’s miserable run continues
“In 2014,” the author wrote, “the Daily Mail reported that Shaw had a post-match Burger King. It turns out he ordered a Chicken Royale which doesn’t come with bacon, so I couldn’t shed any light on the situation through his eating habits.” We were, then, left none the wiser – either Shaw is a Muslim or he just doesn’t like rashers.
Grealish, meanwhile, was placed in the “Could be Christian” category because of that alleged chat with a priest, The Irish Catholic reporting the same nugget at the time.
“Jack’s father, Kevin, spoke of how his son had received the blessing from the local priest, who baptised him and married his parents. “It was Jack’s decision but it was nice for the local priest to endorse his choice,” he said.” The priest wasn’t named, but if he was of Irish extraction, then defrocking is too good for the fella.
Rice was one of six players put in the “Non-religious” section, among them, ironically enough, Nick Pope. The author’s internet research suggested that they were “completely devoid of religious beliefs”, but added: “This, of course, doesn’t mean it’s a fact. No one knows what’s in someone’s heart.” True, that.
But if Rice was a heathen, then, whatever was in his heart, it’s unlikely that he begged for the sin of his treachery to be absolved, merrily swapping green for white to become England’s new Jordan Henderson.
“I have equal respect and love for both England and Ireland,” he said at the time. We’d quote Mick McCarthy’s response, but it’s before the watershed.
[ Rice and Grealish will back themselves to overcome hostile Dublin receptionOpens in new window ]
Not that there’s any lingering acrimony towards the two Judases, nor to the other Englanders who are proud possessors of Irish grannies or grandas but opted not to represent the land of their loved ones’ birth – such as Harry Kane, who has Letterfrack coursing through his veins, Jude Bellingham, Conor Gallagher, Anthony Gordon, James Maddison, Callum Wilson, Kalvin Phillips, Conor Coady et al. (And Harry Maguire).
Although, if Fifa were to bring in a new rule that forced players to switch to the countries that last gave them a passport, then Heimir Hallgrímsson would have Bellingham and Gallagher at his disposal for the trip to Wembley in November. And we’d be grand with that.
The pair made use of their ancestry to help their La Liga clubs beat the limit on non-EU players, Conor joining Jude in Spain after he became the first dynamically priced Gallagher of the summer, moving to Atletico Madrid for just the €42 million. Cynics would say all he does is stand in the middle of the pitch, remote from the action, much like Oasis fans in Croke Park next summer.
But no, we’re not bitter. So we shouldn’t be booing anyone on Saturday afternoon/evening because that would suggest that we are. Anyway, we’ve been through this pain on multiple occasions down the years. Rio Ferdinand, for example, could have played for us. “I love a pint of Guinness, but it wasn’t going to happen,” he said of his missed opportunity to become a boy in green. His loss. We’ll move on. We can’t keep talking about it.
- Sign up for push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Listen to our Inside Politics podcast for the best political chat and analysis
