Louise Quinn: 'You never want to stop playing for Ireland but it must happen some time'
Louise Quinn says that she was 'sobbing at the airport' on Sunday afternoon, as she left to join up with the Ireland squad in Istanbul.
Quinn and her partner Eilish welcomed Darragh into the world back in March, and this stretch, ahead of Friday's Nations League encounter against Turkey, will be the longest she has ever been away from their young son.
Darragh's arrival was a major factor in the veteran defender announcing her retirement a few weeks ago. The Blessington native turns 35 next month and has struggled with a hip issue for much of this season. However, she made herself available for Ireland boss Carla Ward for this crucial Nations League double-header, against Turkey, before they face Slovenia in Pairc Uí Chaoimh, where Quinn last featured for Ireland in the 3-1 win over France last July. Carla Ward. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
She may also find herself in the squad that travels to the US at the end of next month.
'I wanted to do my best to make myself available to end this campaign,' Quinn explained from the team hotel in Istanbul yesterday.
'With the timing of when the Championship finishes, Birmingham wanted to put something together. Was lovely they wanted to give me a send-off, but in my head, I was thinking of getting myself back fit and do everything to make myself available, and then it was up to Carla if she wanted to bring me in. Louise Quinn. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
'Thankfully, that's how it went and I'm back.'
Having lost experienced players such as Niamh Fahey, Diane Caldwell and Julie-Ann Russell, Ward might have been tempted to try and change Quinn's mind on retirement, given that her leadership skills are needed more than ever.
'No, not really, because I am a grown woman and I have to make those decisions,' says the 121-times capped defender. 'But I would have spoken to her when she came into the job, and just in general, and she was hoping and wondering when I would be coming back from injury. Republic of Ireland's Anna Patten, Lily Agg and Louise Quinn. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
'For me, it has always been positive that she wanted me around if I have been fit and able.
'Listen, if I could keep the Irish team as my club team forever, that would be me now, I would be set. This is the team I could play with forever, and leaving this team is the most difficult thing about retirement.
'It has been my whole life. That was the hardest thing, you want to stop and take that time but you don't want to stop that feeling of how magic it is, coming into camp and playing for your country. But it has to stop at some stage.' Louise Quinn. Pic: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile
Quinn's hip problem meant she missed the heartbreaking Euro 2025 play-off defeat to Wales, and she feels that some of the difficulties in this campaign have been a hangover from that disappointing result in the Aviva.
'For me, you could maybe see a little bit of a hangover from those games. There has to be. We have really strong characters, we have leaders, we have personalities.
It's now just trying to gradually step in for them to ease into some of these leadership roles that have been missing. Louise Quinn. Pic: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
'We absolutely have some of the girls that it's natural to them, and they probably do it at club level, and now again, you're asking, okay, how about another step up, another level?
'Can you do it at an international level? And it's not going to happen like clicking your fingers.
'But we have some really strong people, strong personalities and so for me I can see that the team has grown through this campaign. And I think that's what is most important, and now we've really got to get the results and back it up.' Denise O'Sullivan and Louise Quinn. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie
Quinn believes that the loss to Wales and missing out on the tournament this summer will act as a springboard to further success for this team in the same way that the defeat in Ukraine that cost them a Euro 2021 playoff place drove the side on to qualify for its first World Cup.
However, if the team does end up qualifying for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil, they will do so with Quinn cheering on from the side.
As much as she is going to miss the camaraderie of the dressing room and representing her country on the international stage, the arrival of Darragh has changed priorities for Quinn. Louise Quinn. Pic: INPHO/James Crombie
'Obviously, my son is coming along; he's been a big part of the decision. You want to have that time that I've never had. I've constantly missed out on events with friends and family, just seeing them for little more than 24, 48 hours, actually being able to go home and enjoy Christmas.
'I've missed so much with my own family and friends, now that I have my own little family, I want to be able to be there and (be) a bit more present, and potentially (have) a schedule that's more flexible. You miss one training session and it could be you start or don't start.
'I did go to my cousin's wedding in the summer. I flew in for less than 24 hours, went to the wedding, drove back home later that night and got a flight first thing at o'clock in the morning.
'This isn't how I wanted to celebrate my family all the time.
'Darragh probably doesn't have a clue really, but I just think it's important that I'm also around and flexible and there for Eilish. It's always an important time, but this is so new that you want to have all hands on deck and look after him.'
Quinn insists that Ward has offered her no guarantees of starting either of these games, but it feels like this double bill is the perfect way for supporters to bid farewell to one of Irish football's great servants.
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