Prompted by a change in the ECB's eligibility rules in September 2017, Poynter - who leads Durham in the Vitality Blast, England's domestic T20 competition - was forced to choose between country and county as Ireland earned Full Member status in 2017. Before such change by the board, cricketers from Ireland as well as passport-holders from other European Union (EU) countries were considered as local players in county cricket. However, the change now makes it mandatory for players like Poynter to sign as foreign players and the 28-year-old has decided to do the same.

A recent run of poor form saw him dropped from the national side following scores of 7, 0, 4, and 4* against Afghanistan after a decent outing in the T20 series, where he remained unbeaten on 31, 15, and 10 in the three matches. In the solitary Test of the series, however, Poynter fell for scores of 0 and 1 while batting at number six in a seven-wicket defeat for Ireland at Dehradun. That led to his absence from the tri-series at home against West Indies and Bangladesh as Ireland picked Gary Wilson for that series as well as the one-off Test against England at Lord's this July.

Cricket Irelan's Performance Director, Richard Holdsworth, expressed his gratitude for Poynter's contributions to Ireland cricket. "He has certainly been one of a cohort of players who have been part of the rapid climb of Irish cricket over the last decade from Associate Member to Full Member with Test match status, and I'm pleased for Stuart personally that he played in a Test match before he finished with international duties," he said.

Overall, the London-born Poynter ends his Ireland career having played 25 T20s, 21 ODIs and a Test.