Healy claimed to be oblivious to the fact that he had offended anyone saying, "I'm so disappointed and upset that anyone could even try and make this link. And when told about this I was totally bemused." Despite finding a new club, Healy was left out of the Northern Ireland squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers in 2012 by new manager Michael O'Neill. On 14 November 2012, he marked his return to international duty with an equalising goal from the bench against Azerbaijan – it was his first international goal in four years.