Hi,
IRQ_OUT is the ST25R95/CR95HF interrupt output pin (pin 14).
See §4.1.2 in the ST25R95 datasheet for detail about this pin: "When the ST25R95 is ready to send back a reply, it sends an Interrupt Request by setting a low level on pin IRQ_OUT, which remains low until the host reads the data."
When the ST25R95/CR95HF is in tag detection mode, only the Low Frequency Oscillator is running. Therefore the SPI on ST25R95/CR95HF side is inactive until exiting from WFE mode. Once a reply is ready, the IRQ_OUT pin is set low until the MCU read the reply. I.e. the reading on the SPI by the MCU can only be done after the IRQ_OUT has been set low by the ST25R95/CR95HF.
For your information, the STSW-ST25R-LIB - ST25 embedded NFC library relies on IRQ_OUT for reading the responses on the SPI.
Rgds
BT