Ah, but he still chose to play for Ireland.
That conscious decision to choose one nation over another implies that he wanted to be considered as Irish, rather than his natural English default.
Just to make sure we're all on the same page, I genuinely couldn't care less whether he counts as...
I think it's now obvious to us all that not only does Mr Bloom read NSC but he's also influenced by it.
This thread appears, next thing you know Joe Kinnear becomes available...coincidence?