Sean McLoughlin has moved to St Mirren on loan just days after completing a switch to Hull from Cork City.
The 22-year-old centre-half linked up with the Leesiders' Under-19s back in 2013 but then played his football with UCC for a few years before returning to Cork in the summer of 2017 having finished his Business Information Systems degree.
McLoughlin signed a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee last week, however the Tigers have immediately sent him out on loan to the Scottish Premiership outfit so he can gain more first-team experience.
"It came about a couple of days ago and I'm really excited to get up here," McLoughlin told the St Mirren club website.
"I've still got a lot to learn but I'm looking forward to the challenge and looking forward to bettering myself and helping the team.
"I know the Scottish league is a tough, challenging league.
"There's some massive teams, some massive games and a huge fan base up here so it's definitely a great place to be and I'm really looking forward to it."
The Saints are managed by Waterford man Jim Goodwin, who earned a cap for the Republic of Ireland in a friendly against Finland back in 2002, coming on as an 83rd-minute substitute for Robbie Keane in Helsinki.
"Sean is one that we knew about," he said.
"(Technical director) Gus MacPherson had watched him last season and I have contacts back in Ireland as well that we got really solid references from.
"We watched a lot of footage of him and he's tipped for big things so we are delighted to have him in the squad."
