Amber Barrett: 'My problem is, I'm very, very honest'

Amber Barrett weaves her way through the lobby of the Castleknock Hotel and settles into a chair.

She's wearing a crisp, emerald green Republic of Ireland tracksuit and clutching two bottles of still water in her left hand; relaxed, but wide-eyed and focused.

It’s been quite a week.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup begins in 16 days and Barrett will be there, having rubberstamped her place in Vera Pauw’s 23-player squad with an all-action performance off the bench against Zambia, her two goals and overall influence eliminating any doubts she’d make it.

Not that it was ever really up for debate.

Barrett is an important figure in the camp; a strong character whose precise toepoke in the play-off against Scotland snaffled Ireland a golden ticket to Australia.

Over the next 45 minutes the 27-year-old will reflect on some of the signposts that have steered her in the right direction up to now: Maynooth, Finglas, Cologne, Glasgow and Creeslough.

But first, there is Milford, her hometown in Co Donegal.

The middle child in a family of five, Amber Barrett grew up in constant competition with her two brothers - Luke, three years older, and Kane, two years younger. Gaelic football was the staple diet.

Dad Shaun Paul - a garda sergeant - managed several senior club teams throughout her childhood [in more recent years he's led the county's minors and Under-20s], so the game was omnipresent. And you always had to win.

"The fact we grew up playing sport all the time, it made me, and us, really, really competitive," Barrett says.

"At the end of the day, I wanted to beat my brothers and they wanted to make sure I never won anything.

"When you are that young and you are doing it, you don’t take any notice of it, but in later