Widespread change was expected following Ireland's disappointing World Cup quarter-final defeat to Wales in New Zealand but Kidney has opted against blooding fresh faces, and McLaughlin believes it's a major oversight.
"It is disappointing," McLaughlin told the Irish Independent. "Declan has decided he is going to stick with his World Cup squad and give them an opportunity in the Six Nations.
"Chris Henry has been exceptional all season and Dan Tuohy has shown in the last two or three games that he's very capable of playing at that level."
As expected, the 24-man squad is dominated by European champions Leinster and league champions Munster who contribute 12 and six players respectively.
Ulster do have five players selected - Tom Court, Sean O'Brien, Stephen Ferris, Rory Best and Andrew Trimble while Ospreys wing Tommy Bowe is the only overseas selection.
Ireland Training Squad:
Rory Best (Banbridge - Ulster)
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Tom Court (Malone - Ulster)
Sean Cronin (St.Mary's College - Leinster)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College - Leinster)
Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne - Leinster)
Keith Earls (Young Munster - Munster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon - Ulster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf - Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas - Leinster)
Shane Jennings (St.Mary's College - Leinster)
Rob Kearney (UCD - Leinster)
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere - Leinster)
Conor Murray (Garryowen - Munster)
Sean O'Brien (Clontarf - Leinster)
Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution - Munster)
Paul O'Connell (Young Munster - Munster)
Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution - Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne - Leinster)
Mike Ross (Clontarf - Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon - Munster)
Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary's College - Leinster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena - Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena - Ulster)
Additional Players:
Ian Nagle (Cork Constitution - Munster)*
Peter O'Mahony (Cork Constitution - Munster)*
Tiernan O'Halloran (Galwegians - Connacht)*
Paddy McAllister (Ballynahinch - Ulster)*
Andrew Conway (Blackrock College - Leinster)*
Simon Zebo (Cork Constitution - Munster)*
O2 Ireland Wolfhounds:
Stephen Archer (Cork Constitution - Munster)*
Isaac Boss (Terenure College - Leinster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians - Connacht)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College - Leinster)
Chris Henry (Belfast Harlequins - Ulster)
Denis Hurley (Cork Constitution - Munster)
David Kearney (Lansdowne - Leinster)*
Ian Keatley (Young Munster - Munster)
Ronan Loughney (Buccaneers - Connacht)*
Ian Madigan (Blackrock College - Leinster)*
Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers - Connacht)
Kevin McLaughlin (St.Mary's College - Leinster)
John Muldoon (Galwegians - Connacht)
Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin - Munster)
Eoin O'Malley (Old Belvedere - Leinster)*
Rhys Ruddock (St.Mary's College - Leinster)
Mike Sherry (Garryowen - Munster)*
Nevin Spence (Ballynahinch - Ulster)*
Devin Toner (Lansdowne - Leinster)
Dan Touhy (Ballymena - Ulster)
Damien Varley (Garryowen - Munster)
Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians - Connacht)*
Not considered due to injury:
Brian O'Driscoll, David Wallace, Darren Cave, Felix Jones, Jerry Flannery, Eoin Griffen*, Denis Leamy, Niall Ronan.
N.B. * denotes uncapped player
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