If you can't get an IR board, and you have a little available time for interrupts, you can use
Kevin's IR code to directly decode the IR signal.
After our IR board died at a regional, we cut the traces to isolate the IR receiver, ran a cable to the RC, and used Kevin's code. We did have a little bit of trouble finding a remote that would work with the Sony protocol that Kevin assumes. We ended up using a cheap universal remote programmed to a Sony TV.