Mark Kinsella has voiced his disappointment at Declan Rice’s decision to declare for England, but acknowledged it wasn’t an easy decision for the West Ham man.
Rice's international future has been the subject of much speculation since his breakthrough with the Hammers and England manager Gareth Southgate held talks with the midfielder in an effort to get him to switch from Ireland.
The 20-year-old played three senior international friendlies for Ireland in 2018 having previously represented Ireland at underage level, but today said that while it was an "extremely difficult decision", he has decided to pledge his allegiance to the Three Lions.
The former Republic of Ireland international told RTÉ Sport that Rice would have been the bedrock of the Irish team for years to come.
"It is disappointing that we can let a lad go through the whole youth set-up, play three times for the seniors and lose him"
"Gareth [Southgate] put a better case towards him playing for England and that’s the decision he’s made," he said.
"It is disappointing that we can let a lad go through the whole youth set-up, play three times for the seniors and lose him.
"With Ireland I think that would have been a given," he responded when asked if the youngster could win 50 or 60 caps in the England set-up. "If he was injury free, he’d be a mainstay of Irish football for the next 10 years."
Kinsella saw first-hand the impact of the player when he excelled at the U21 age group for the Republic, with his final appearance coming in a European qualifier against Azerbaijan less than 12 months ago.
"He came into our U21 campaign two games in and you could see the stature of the kid, he was well above his age the way he played and it was only matter of time before he got the call-up to the seniors," he said.
"I’m sure it wasn’t an easy decision to make.
"It’s over now for Mick [McCarthy]. He’s done his little bit and it didn’t work out. We still have a squad that is well capable of qualifying for the next Championships."
