Ronan Hale: The Ross County striker is Northern Ireland’s striker, but they cannot select him yet

Born in Belfast, Hale chose to represent the Republic of Ireland as a younger player, playing and scoring for both the Under-19s and Under-21s.

He scored two goals in five games with the U21s in 2018, but as he bounced around clubs in the League of Ireland and the Irish Premiership and burst onto the scene with the likes of Brighton’s Evan Ferguson and Celtic’s Adam Idah, his chances of winning diminished. of a senior title. international limit for the Republic reduced.

Hale went about his business and in the summer of 2022 he finally found a welcoming home in Cliftonville, the Irish Premier League.

In his first season with the Reds, Hale scored 29 goals in all competitions, and followed suit last season with 22 goals, including two in the Irish Cup final against Linfield.

His goal-scoring not only made Ross County sit up and take notice, but they also caught the eye of O’Neill as he looked to address a problem position in his squad.

The wheels for a change in international allegiance were set in motion in August when Hale committed to NI after several discussions with O’Neill.

But as O’Neill explained, it is a slow, ‘administrative’ process that ultimately lies with world football’s governing body, FIFA – and not the Irish FA (IFA) or the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) – and Hale was ‘ adamant’. to transfer, hence the process has been started so that there is no indication that he will remain with the Republic.

Hale was relatively calm on the matter when BBC Scotland asked him to comment on the situation following his side’s eventual 2-1 defeat to Celtic on Sunday.

“From what I’ve heard I’m still waiting for clearance but this will allow me to fully concentrate on Ross County, enjoying my football and scoring goals,” he said.

“International football is huge. When Michael (O’Neill) called me and said the opportunity was there to play international football, it was not an opportunity I wanted to pass up and hopefully it will be resolved sooner rather than later.”