Harry Arter is one of the few Irish eligible footballers in the Premier League but he won't be playing for the Boys in Green in the short term.
Having featured for Cardiff City against Arsenal on Sunday, he was left out of the Ireland squad for the UEFA Nations League match against Wales as expected, having made himself unavailable for selection.
Ireland manager Martin O’Neill had conceded last week that his assistant Roy Keane had been involved in an altercation with Arter and Jon Walters in camp, ahead of the friendly against USA in June.
The Irish Daily Mail's Philip Quinn believes it's now doubtful whether Arter will earn a recall during the O'Neill-Keane era regardless of form having taken himself out of consideration.
"I think we're poorer without him right now because we need all the Premier League midfielders," he said.
"Look, the fact that O'Neill did speak to him last week and I think he wanted to hear from Arter... and Arter weighed it all up and thought, 'No, I just maybe don't feel entirely comfortable in that set-up at the moment and I'm going to ask for a little break'.
"The thing is when you ask for a break, or ask not to be considered, it's very hard to get back in and it might be the end of the road for Harry Arter. But if it is, ultimately the Irish football team could be the loser here because we're down a Premier League player."
On the Declan Rice situation, Quinn added that the spectre of interest from England appears to be the primary reason behind the West Ham midfielder taking time out to think about whether to further his Ireland career or switch to the nation of his birth.
