SOCCER:He may have stopped tweeting but there's no hiding the Derry man's joy at making the squad, writes EMMET MALONE
HE MAY have stopped tweeting but as he sat in a Dublin hotel yesterday James McClean was still talking about his decision last year to declare for the Republic of Ireland and the sometimes hate-filled reaction it, and his subsequent utterances about it, have generated.
It was “just a bit of banter” he says with a hint of a smile and a certain amount of what seems like genuine bewilderment, but three days on the 23-year-old’s Twitter silence is holding. His withdrawal from the social media platform came after talks with his employers and to the relief, one imagines, of just about everyone else connected with the player.
The death threats he received after mocking those who reacted badly to his initial delight at being included in Giovanni Trapattoni’s European Championship squad on Monday finally spurred Sunderland into action and somebody there, he says, had a word.
Still, McClean seems genuinely unperturbed by the fuss and, with the air perhaps of a young man who grew up in an area where heated face-to-face encounters were not entirely unknown, insists that he never feared for his safety.
His conviction regarding the original decision to switch allegiance after representing Northern Ireland at under-21 level is, in any case, entirely undiminished.
“Being from Derry, it’s a nationalist city where everyone supports the Republic of Ireland and you are brought up that way,” he says cheerfully if just a little inaccurately.
“Even back in 2002 during the Korea and Japan World Cup I remember being at school watching the games and just the whole city came to a standstill. Now, to be a part of that and knowing the support you are getting back at home – it’s going to be tremendous and I am really looking forward to that.”
Of his time with the Northern Ireland Under-21s, when he made seven appearances, he adds: “You don’t really feel at home. I think any Catholic would be lying if they said they did feel at home, seeing all those flags and hearing the songs and chants.
“For me, personally, I didn’t feel part of it. It’s probably the wrong thing to say but it was just a stepping stone in my career.”
His desire, he insists, is to see a day when attitudes change on all sides and he sees new Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill as having the potential to progress the situation.
One suspects, however, that the player’s support for O’Neill does the former Shamrock Rovers boss about as much as good with certain sections of the public up North as Martin McGuinness’s appeal on behalf of McClean yesterday will have done the Sunderland winger.
McClean’s other great journey over the year or so is rather less controversial.
When the Irish team kicked off their qualification campaign in Armenia the midfielder was plying his trade with Derry City in the First Division of the League of Ireland. He and his team-mates watched the game in a Waterford hotel before playing a game at the RSC which they lost.
Even a little over a year later when qualification was secured with victory over two legs against Estonia in the play-offs, McClean hadn’t reached the point where the prospect of a call-up seemed to be worth even dreaming about.
“Yeah, I was there at Sunderland and on the bench,” he says. “My main priority was to get a game at Sunderland and make my mark there. So yeah, it was a million miles away from what I was thinking, but when I got in the team at Sunderland that obviously gave me something new to aim for and now I’ve met that aim.”
His progress has, in fact, bordered on the incredible. It is just five months to the day today since he made his Sunderland debut, coming on when they were losing against Blackburn and making an immediate impact in a 2-1 victory.
It was much the same story for the next couple of months and now he enjoys not just first-team regular status at the Stadium of Light but real stardom.
It all still feels very new to him, he admits, and while he has been the subject of much hype these past weeks, he was taking nothing for granted when a “down South” mobile number flashed up on his phone and the caller announced himself as “Mr Trapattoni”.
“When he said it was Mr Trapattoni my heart just dropped,” he says, “but then when he told me that I was in the squad it was the greatest feeling you can get.
“I remember I just had the biggest smile on my face, but I couldn’t really say anything because the squad wasn’t being announced until 3.30pm and so I had to keep it to myself.
“I told my family and close friends but told them that they couldn’t say anything; that was the hard part, not being able to say anything.
“I just lay in bed and let out a big roar: ‘Finally, I’ve done it’. Now I’m just looking forward to taking it from here.”
James McClean and Keith Duffy of Boyzone were in Dublin yesterday to launch the Dublin Staff Relay 2012. This is a 5x5km relay race which is being staged in the Phoenix Park on Thursday, May 24th at 6pm. Irish Autism Action is an official partner of the race and 20 per cent of every team entry will go directly to the charity. Further details: www.dublinstaffrelay.com.
