Stating it in the media has little real value compared to a personal request to be considered for selection, sent to the FAI. Certainly that protocol should apply to a player who has already declined an offer to join the squad, the next step should be theirs to take. The FAI are exposed enough when a player pulls out of a squad in such public circumstances once, but should it to happen twice? A letter is the FAI's security in the face of scrutiny from other associations with malevolent intent to blackguard them
Same if, O'Hara the Portsmouth midfielder - is all of a sudden reported in the media as being open to declare for Ireland, it is meaningless unless it is backed up by action, one simple action is write to the FAI.
AFAIC, Barry has absolutely no grounds for even the tiniest gripe with the FAI. He should make sure he has satisfied the required protocol for making himself available for selection, then the rest is up to him and Trap's man on the spot, Tardelli.
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