He then spent 18 months at Brighton & Hove Albion and three years in the academy at Queens Park Rangers before he became a first-team coach with Nottingham Forest in January 2018.
Ireland came through the youth ranks at Huddersfield Town to make three starts and three substitute appearances in the Third Division during the 1990–91 season under the stewardship of Eoin Hand.
[2] He departed Leeds Road early in the 1992–93 season after having scored one goal in five matches for Ian Ross's "Terriers".
[2] He played 38 games in the 1997–98 campaign as Rovers finished bottom of the Football League and then left Belle Vue.
[6] He left on 18 January 2018 and joined the staff of Aitor Karanka at Nottingham Forest as a first-team coach a few days later.
[7] Karanka departed the club on 11 January 2019 and Ireland served as caretaker manager the following day against Reading, which ended in a 2–0 defeat.
[12] In September 2023, he re-united with Moore once again as part of the new coaching staff at Championship side Huddersfield Town, re-joining the Terriers after a thirty-year absence.
[16] He began coaching alongside Darren Moore at Port Vale in February 2025 after assistant manager Wayne Jacobs was forced to take a leave of absence due to ill health.