A LONG FLIGHT home from Kiev, a much shorter one from Glasgow.

Both physically, but more so, emotionally.

Ireland finally realised their major tournament dream at Hampden Park on Monday night, making history in qualifying for their first World Cup, two years on from the heartbreaking defeat to Ukraine which ended the Euro 2022 dream.

That gut-wrenching own goal lives in the memory for all the wrong reasons, but Amber Barrett’s iconic offering against Scotland has finally banished all of those ghosts.

“None of us just ever wanted anything like that to happen again,” Louise Quinn said post-match, having put her initial emotions of sheer ecstasy, delight and pride to one side.

“Losses like that, they take the fear out of the game. You’re like, ‘It doesn’t get almost more worse than that.’ The people that it happened to as well, the strongest people — Courtney [Brosnan] lights up the team, Áine [O’Gorman], nothing fazes her. She’s back even stronger. We are all better for it because we stuck together.

“Mistakes are mistakes, it’s football, it’s sport, but how you’re able to change the mindset and go to a World Cup after that is ridiculous.”

“It was trying to come back from that, and learn from defeats,” the 99-cap defensive stalwart adds, delving a little deeper into the comeback story.

“We did that. We played bigger and better teams and we took, we kind of taken the fear out of football, out of occasions. Every game we’ve played in this campaign has been a cup final, every game has been the biggest game of our career in this campaign in how we’ve gone on and gone on.

“Again, this game was extremely important. Those last games, we performed in them and treated them as cup finals, so again, we just took it on, and in the best way. You could feel it again in the group, it just felt so good.”

The secret of no fear? “Sometimes heartache,” Quinn, who was involved in the Ireland’s last, and only other play-off, in 2008, responded. “You go into that and you think ‘Do you know what? Go out and play football like you’re a kid and remember that it’s just a game.’

“But then a tragedy like happened in Donegal, everything is reflected it’s football, and that’s what we’re here for, it’s a game, we always stick together no matter what, and we know everyone has your back, you’re sorted.”

The Birmingham City captain had a word for almost everybody post-match, speaking brilliantly of Barrett and her poignant tribute to Creeslough, in particular.

Asked whether this was the greatest day of her footballing career, Quinn later smiled: “Until we’re at the World Cup, yeah. Pretty much.

“It’s just changed everything for us, and hopefully, women’s football in Ireland. The fight, the graft, everything we’ve put in… everything happens for a reason. Past games where we’ve failed, it’s only made us stronger, it’s only made us more resilient.”

Onwards. To Australia and New Zealand next summer, the draw due to take place on Saturday week.

She’s been to Melbourne before, and is hopeful for a return there with a special someone to visit while leading her country to new ground.

“My sister is in Australia actually, Melbourne. Loads of people from college, I’ve a friend in New Zealand…

“I feel apart from Australia and New Zealand, we’ll probably have the next most fans to be honest, there are so much Irish over there!”