Hero Jonathan Walters seals Ireland’s Euro 2016 dream

It’s been a rocky road, but for Martin O’Neill’s Republic of Ireland it’s about the destination, not the journey.

Appropriate, too, that Ireland’s man for all seasons, Jonathan Walters franked Ireland’s passport for the Euro 2016 finals with a pair of priceless goals at a rocking Aviva Stadium last night.

In advancing on a 3-1 aggregate victory over Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Republic became the 22nd of the 24 nations who will light up Paris next summer along with our neighbours from Northern Ireland, England, and Wales.

The blue-chip endorsements for the FAI will make qualification a cash cow in itself, but that’s for the boardroom.

Around Lansdowne Road last night, the fans were already thumbing through their Aer Lingus and Ryanair apps for flight prices next June.

A cursory glance told them that Cork-Paris with the national carrier on June 10 comes in at €81.99 each way from Cork to Paris’ Charles de Gaulle. They won’t stay that way for long.

Manager Martin O’Neill and his assistant Roy Keane hugged emotionally at the final whistle, O’Neill’s future in charge secure up to the next World Cup in 2018 in Russia if he so wishes.

Jonathan Walters may not be around by then, but he has left a lasting legacy in green with last night’s double, the first from the penalty spot, the clincher a calmly struck volley at the back post.

He has been part of a group of veritable cardiac kids who quarried late goals in Tbilisi from McGeady, Gelsenkirchen from O’Shea, and in Dublin, when Shane Long grabbed a late equaliser against the Poles.

And then there was Germany at the Aviva.

Said hero Walters: “The whole team on the pitch are heroes. We got there in the end, we did it the hard way, but we got there.

“You’ve got to take it in because these moments don’t come round often in a career.”

O’Neill reacted: “We will have a huge following in France, and I’m so pleased for the fans. They got us through tonight.”

The manager’s regard for his squad though runs deeper still. “Whatever they think of me it’s minuscule in terms of the esteem in which I hold the players. They were immense.”

Added heart-on-the-sleeve defender Richard Keogh: “It’s an unbelievable feeling. For me to play for my country means the world to me. I’ve stepped up to the plate. I’m going to enjoy it.”