Graham Burke’s life has turned full circle in one whirlwind year

Twelve months ago, the inner-city dreamer watched Ireland on a pub TV but tomorrow night Ireland will be watching him in Cardiff

HE may still be chasing his dreams abroad but it is when he returns home that the reality sinks in.

Graham Burke travelled back to Dublin from his Preston home on Sunday and, as he steered his car towards the city centre, he suddenly breathed in a glorious gulp of recognition.

As the gleaming glass structure of the Aviva Stadium reflected the glare of the setting sun, he was instantly reminded of the stunning journey he has made within the past year. The return to his hometown, as it is for anyone, is an emotional one; for him, there is an even more special twinge.

As much as he loved home, he knew he might one day have to leave it to advance his profession.

Twelve months ago, though, with his aspirations seemingly dashed against the rocks of cold reality – having already had a childhood dream splintered by a false dawn – he had to confront the fact that his future no longer lay on far-flung fields.

House

Preparing to buy a house for the then Shamrock Rovers player would represent, in his mind at least, a contract of contented commitment to the flight of what might have been.

And then everything changed. “I never would have thought it after first coming home and playing for Rovers,” Burke tells us, the wide-eyed innocence of his stunning recent success still dancing in his eyes.

“I was quite happy at Rovers and happy with life here, being around everybody.

“I was looking to buy a house in Ireland just before I left. I was bidding on a house and then all this came. Then, boom! See you later everybody. It’s brilliant. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

Resentment at remaining had never infected his mind or his character, merely the nagging itch of unrequited yearning wouldn’t leave him.

He has barely had time to absorb the blur of his new existence.

“It all came so fast that there was no real time to think about it. This is happening, boom, you know what I mean?

“I got off the boat when I was coming into Dublin this week and I could see the Aviva. I was looking at it and thinking, I was playing there for my country and I scored!”

Tomorrow night, in the absence of goal-scorers or twinkly-toed attackers, Burke’s acceleration to prominence should really be rewarded with a meaningful presence in Cardiff.

Burke might well be content with a seat on the bench; after all, when Ireland last played Wales he was barely able to find a seat at the bar to watch it on TV.

“I ended up watching that in the Confession Box in Marlborough Street,” he says.

“There weren’t many in it because it’s not really a pub for watching football, but it’s around the corner from me. I was going into The Living Room to watch it but it was packed, I couldn’t get into it, so that’s where I ended up going.

“The other place is more of a tourist pub. I think there was only me, the girlfriend’s brother and a couple of other people.

“I don’t even know if everyone was watching the match, but it was kicking off and we needed to find somewhere to watch it.”

Tomorrow night, thousands of Irish people will be in their own living rooms – many more in pubs and clubs – watching him on screen.

Some of them, too, may harbour their own hopes of matching his achievements.

The move to Preston coincided with his summer breakthrough for Ireland, debuting against France and then scoring against the USA.

He remained as committed as he could be to Rovers even if the news leaked out while he was still their player; he even forced himself to tell white lies to close friends as his world whirled about him.

“I was telling people that I hadn’t signed, but I actually did sign. The last thing I wanted was to play for Rovers and have people saying, ‘He’s off’, or if I didn’t have a good game they’d say, ‘He’s not trying because he’s leaving’.

“I enjoyed my time there and the last four games were special to me. I went out and tried to play as well as I could and tried to score as many goals as I could.”

At Preston, the 24-year-old has continued in the same vein, scoring twice in all competitions and playing four of six league games for the ambitious championship side.

“Growing up on Sean McDermott Street, to think all this would have happened...You could have told me after that game that I’d have to stop playing football and I would have said, yeah, fair enough, I’m content now, that’ll be fine for me.

“It’s brilliant. And hopefully there’ll be many more times like it.”