Jamie O’Hara will weigh-up his international future in the summer as he considers an invitation to join Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland set-up. The midfielder qualifies to play for Ireland through his grandparents and he is thought to be high on Trapattoni’s wishlist. Despite being born in Dartford and representing England seven times at under-21 level, O’Hara is ready to consider playing his senior football for the Irish. But he is set to hold off on making his decision until after this summer’s World Cup finals in South Africa. He said: “Obviously, there has been some interest and it is a great honour to be asked to play for Ireland. That’s something I’ll have to look at in the near future. I’ve played for England at under-21 level and I’ve always played as an England player. That’s who I wanted to play for growing up. It’s just something I’ll have to look at after the World Cup. I’ll sit down and have a discussion with my family, some friends and make a decision. I’m English and I’m Irish, so to be asked to play for either is a fantastic honour. I would be proud to wear any of the shirts. So when the time is right to make the decision, hopefully I’ll make the right one.” Meanwhile, Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is willing to let Daryl Murphy and David Healy make their loan deals at Ipswich permanent next season. The duo are currently performing well with Roy Keane’s side and are due to remain at Portman Road until the end of the campaign. “Both Daryl and David seem happy with Ipswich,” Bruce said. “If Ipswich are happy with them we’ll sit down and see if we can sort out something agreeable to all parties. There’s a big difference when dropping down to the Championship. This is reflected in wages and can be a barrier to stop a lot of players moving down. Both Daryl and David have been regular members of my squad, but realistically, to be fair to them, it is time to move on.”
25 May 2012
