Hibs star sees Scotland call-up claim spark dressing room hilarity amid glaring issue as holiday plans ditched

Jamie McGrath has revealed how holiday plans were ditched after a late Republic of Ireland call-up - with the Hibs dressing room in stitches over Scotland shouts.

The Easter Road midfielder was selected at short notice by Irish boss Heimir Hallgrimsson for a home friendly against Qatar on Thursday and clash with World Cup hosts Canada next week in Montreal. McGrath was in Marbella with his girlfriend after the end of Hibs’ Premiership season but plans soon changed when his national team came calling.

There was no easing in either, as the Easter Road midfielder started and played the entirety of their 1-0 win against Qatar. The 29-year-old was on post-match media duties and was questioned on a shock shout from radio host Ewen Cameron on whether or not he’d be an option for Scotland. Being in and out of Ireland squads since 2021 made that an impossibility, but it caught a few laughs in the Easter Road dressing room. Whether or not he would answer the call for this camp was only going to spark one response.

Why did Jamie McGrath get called up for Republic of Ireland?

McGrath said: “I was actually on holiday Sunday night when the gaffer rang me to come in Monday. I only landed about an hour, and just went out for dinner, and I had a nice call from the gaffer. Once I spoke to him, we have a great relationship; he’s brought me in loads of times before, and it was a no-brainer

“I won’t not come in unless my leg is hanging off, and it was a quick turnaround, and had other holidays planned this week with my girlfriend, actually, who travelled to Nashville today on her own with two of our mates, so she was trying to get Wi-Fi on the plane to watch it. You have 30 years when you retire to go on holiday. I’m just delighted to get the nod, and I have a great relationship with the gaffer, and he was quite clear, and yeah, it was delightful.

“I was obviously over the moon. My girlfriend was over the moon as well. Everybody’s over the moon. I just had to tell her I won’t be on the flight on Thursday, we had a busy summer planned when I found out. It’s your country at the end of the day. I’m a proud Irishman and I’d never reject a call-up. We were meant to go to Nashville for two weeks. We have to do a bit of rearranging. I think her and my dad might fly over to Montreal now. We’ll probably fly away after, so we’ve loads of time. It’s not a big deal.”

The victory over Qatar was disrupted by a tennis ball protest from supporters inside the Aviva Stadium. Republic of Ireland have been drawn to face Israel in the Nations League later this year and team stalwart Seamus Coleman admits the situation "should have been dealt with above us”. Balls with Palestine flags were thrown onto the pitch amid conflict in the middle-east with Israel. McGrath admits he isn’t sure on whether or not he’d opt out of the game on September 27 at a neutral venue before the return match in Dublin on October 4.

Why did Republic of Ireland fans protest vs Qatar?

He agrees with Coleman’s verdict on the situation and backed protesters who safely put across their views. It has been a new experience for him to deal with as the Hibs midfielder insists the situation hasn’t been pleasant to get caught up in. McGrath explained: “I am in and out of the squad. I don’t know if that decision will come or not, I’ll have to obviously have a chat with my family because at the end of the day.

“It’s my people, but it’s a long way away now, we’ll see when it comes around. Everybody has a right to voice their opinion as long as it’s done in a safe way, we don’t mind. Obviously, it was a stop-start game; it hit a bit of a lull after that, but people have their own opinion, and it’s one of those things. I’ve never really been in this situation before, so it’s all a learning curve to me. As long as it’s done in the right way, we’re fine with it.

“I think Seamus spoke really well about it the other day. We don’t all agree with what’s going on. Ideally, it’s not in our hands. We don’t know what’s going to happen as the build-up to the game; there are a lot of permutations that could happen. But it’s not a nice situation to be put into. Personally, none of us agree with what’s going on.”

Speaking on the situation in a separate interview with the BBC, McGrath added: “I obviously listened to Seamus' interview and I think he was spot on. It's obviously a unique scenario. The people [protesters], we have to listen to them, they have the right to do what they do, as long as it's done in a peaceful way, that's all that matters.

"I'm sure it's going to heat up over the next few months. Like I said, we don't want to be put into a position. Hopefully the powers above us can work something out or use it for the greater good, I'm not sure what the process will be as it heats up. At the end of the day, we're footballers and we don't want to be caught in this, but sometimes we might have to."