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Obviously injuries play their part, but there's been some players in the Irish setup over the years that have inexplicably faded upon turning 30.
I'll start the ball rolling with the curious case of Mark Kinsella.... I mean he was fundamental in the Euro2000 and WC2002 qualifiers but seemed to lose it completely after Japan/Korea upon turning 30 and joining Villa....
Ill counter that with Graham Kavanagh :D
From what I can make out both Kinsella and Kavanagh made their debuts in the same friendly game against the Czechs in the lead up to the EURO2000 qualifiers. As we know Kinsella (48 caps) played a significant role in the next few campaigns with Kavanagh (16 caps) less so.
However, it was in the latter number of appearances for Ireland that Kavanagh made the most contribution (or certainly most memorable) for me anyway and he was around 30-31 at that stage!! Definitely a late bloomer......
Ah the depression of central midfield from mid 2002 to now begins......
Kav was something of an enigma. When we were needing someone in the middle with the bite of Keane, we got that in Kav. Unfortunately he never seemed to trust himself, or didn't look like he was uncomfortable with the surroundings, and I think everyone wanted him to do well. Exceptional with the ball at his feet in the championship, where time isn't plentiful, but never seemed settled for us.
Was it against Brazil that he absolutely tore Gilberto a new one? He did seem to be getting better and then got a couple of nasty injuries.