Reid returns to witness the miracle of Fatima Mansions
Crowd-pleasing display, but star will wonder if Trap is watching
Andy Reid with his father Billy at the opening
ANDY Reid returned home yesterday to officially launch a new business, to open a new sporting facility, to shake hands with some of his biggest supporters, and to kiss a few babies along the way.
But don't mistake him for a politician. He just wants to play football.
The 27-year-old hasn't figured in a Republic of Ireland squad since a disagreement with manager Giovanni Trapattoni last year over a curfew the Italian imposed following the World Cup qualifier against Georgia in Mainz.
Sunderland manager Steve Bruce recently suggested an apology from the Dubliner might be the only way to end the stalemate.
"The point that I've made to him (Bruce) is that I don't feel I've got anything to say sorry for, I don't feel that I did anything wrong," the footballer said yesterday.
He looked on as a local team from Fatima Mansions, Dublin, took on a garda team on the new pitch built as part of the €130m facelift for the area which was once blighted by drugs and poverty.
Dublin City Council provided the land and in return the developer Maplewood Elliot demolished 300 old flats and replaced them with 614 new homes, a leisure centre with a swimming pool, shops, a creche with 75 places, an all-weather pitch and enterprise units.
"I know that people made the best of it the way it was, but they've got to be so proud of everything that is here now, it's just fantastic," Reid said.
"It's going to give the people here a better quality of life, and it's going to be fantastic for the kids -- the homes, the flats, the centre, there's a great atmosphere around the place, and the people have bought into it and I think they'll really respect it."
Among the new businesses in the complex is a taxi firm run by Reid's father and brothers.
But, unsurprisingly, all anyone wanted to talk about was his omission from the squad to play France in the World Cup play-offs.
There are only so many ways he can express his frustration, but he has consistently -- and wisely -- kept his counsel on what exactly happened with the guitar in Mainz.
"That's something that I don't even want to go into," he said. "There's nothing I want to go into on that side of things."
And so he will watch the two games against France on television, despite shedding 20lb in the summer to vastly improve his fitness and despite starring in recent Premiership games against Manchester United and Liverpool.
But he won't stop putting himself forward.
"I'm always ready to play for Ireland. I'm very proud when I do play for Ireland," he said. "The only way I can get myself into the team, if I am going to get into the team, is by my performances at Sunderland."
He recalled how Fatima Mansions became "a ghost town" during Italia '90 as everyone remained glued to their TV sets.
And, like the rest of us, he can still dream.
"It would be an amazing achievement for anybody to be called into a World Cup squad, and I'd be no different to anyone else," he said. "It would be fantastic, of course it would.
"But I think it's probably important that everybody gets behind the lads in the next few games. They're very important games from the football side of things but also for the country as well, to give the country a lift."
Duff back in action, see Sport, page 76
Irish Independent
