"People have said I wouldn't have gone to Portsmouth because I'd have had to uproot my family, but that's not the case," the Republic of Ireland international said.
"My wife had checked out the schools and was looking at property. But there were a couple of things not quite right with the deal.
"It was a big decision but I'm 29 now and want to be playing Premiership football. The fixtures are out this week and I want to be checking out when we would be playing Manchester United, Liverpool or Arsenal," he added.
"That was the biggest deciding factor."