I am conspiracy theorising but it was a really petty time for English cricket so nothing would surprise me.I find that rather unlikely. I can't see what England would have gained for it given that Ireland barely played any tests and that their first test was in 2018. I'm not saying I liked their use of him BTW.
It was a poor decision to select him though - it was debatable he was good enough (although I rated him, perhaps more as a limited over option) but to then pick him when injured as well was even worse. Part of a complete lack of care shown for the England players in that series and in that period.