West Ham captain Mark Noble has admitted that he has received approaches from the FAI in the past but has reiterated that any football at international level would have to come in the colours of his birth country of England.
In an interview with The Times, the well-regarded 28-year-old midfielder said he does not want to "take the chance off a full Irish player" by accepting an Ireland call-up that he would not be fully committed to.
"I have a chance of playing for Ireland. I’ve been approached and asked," he said ahead of West Ham's FA Cup trip to face Manchester United.
"My nan and grandad are full Irish. But there are full Irish boys out there who would love to play for Ireland, like me with England.
"I wouldn’t put myself into something I wasn’t fully committed to. I wouldn’t want to take that chance off a full Irish player. I’m patriotic and I’d love to play for England. I played England U-15 to U-21. A lot of people are talking about me and England. If it happens, it happens."
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