The Irish in Britain, including those of Irish descent, make up a significant part of the UK population. Here, you will find news, entertainment, events, sports and features from the local Irish Post newspaper.

As the Republic of Ireland players trooped off the pitch in Prague, aware that they had failed to qualify for another major tournament, the consensus among the legion of Irish fans who had made the journey to Prague was that the players had the ability, the manager was the problem.

But the defeat in Prague will almost certainly signal the end of the road at international level for a host of players.

Lee Carsley will more than likely retire while the pair of poor performances produced by Aidan McGeady in the matches against Slovakia and the Czech Republic probably mean that he will be far down the pecking order by the time Ireland bid to qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

Stephen Kelly was another player who failed to convince in the first major test of his international career and the return to fitness of players such as Steve Finnan and Stephen Carr could mean that there will be a long wait before Kelly adds to his tally of 10 international caps.

The return from injury of Finnan and double-Premiership winner Damien Duff will add a measure of class to the national team — the question Irish football fans will be asking is: Have Ireland got the players to be a force in international football?

Nine players who are with Premiership clubs started against the Czech Republic while a 10th, Aidan McGeady, is a regular with Scottish champions Celtic.

Add to that the fact that Stephen Ireland, Finnan, Duff and Carr, all injured, are first-team regulars for Ireland and Premiership clubs.

With the English top-flight widely hailed as the best League in the world surely the future should be bright for Irish football?

Yet players who excel for their clubs, such as Robbie Keane, seem leaden-footed and second-rate when they feature for their country.

Given the relatively small pool of players from which the Republic of Ireland team is picked there are unlikely to be any really talented players out there who have yet to be capped at least once. A team built around Richard Dunne, Stephen Ireland, Robbie Keane and Kevin Doyle can be competitive at international level but only if the right players are picked.