FAI CHIEF EXECUTIVE John Delaney says he is sorry if he has caused any offence after a video clip of him singing a republican song surfaced online.
The head of Irish football was filmed in a pub singing ballad Joe McDonnell after last Tuesday’s international friendly win over the US at the Aviva Stadium.
The Wolftones song tells the story of IRA member McDonnell, who died in the 1981 hunger strike.
“Joe McDonnell is a song that has been sang in my presence, that I’ve chipped in on or have sang on a number of occasions in the past,” Delaney said.
“I’m not somebody who supports violence at all and in fact over a large number of years I have been working very closely on cross border initiatives in football to break down barriers. I’m just not a violent person.
“My grandfather fought in the Civil War, he also fought in the War of Independence. I’ve always said I have a nationalist background.
“When you sing a song like that you don’t believe in every word that’s in the song. I sing a large number of songs — about five or six — and it’s normally done in a private way when there’s a sing-song.
“It’s a typical Irish thing we do. We sing songs amongst our group and you expect it to be kept to the group. Unfortunately, on occasions people use camera phones in a sly way and they try and tape it. People who are not in your company will try to make something bigger than it is.
If the song offends anybody, I’m sorry,” he added. “It’s not in my nature to want to offend people but it was something that I have sang or have sung in my presence in the past.
“I’ll give you an example, Sean South from Garryowen is sung on the Irish team bus for years. From the Jack Charlton era right up to the current era.
“It has been done privately but if people want to tape these things in what I would call a sly way and then try and make them public, it’s wrong but I do accept if I’ve upset anybody I’m sorry.”
'People use camera phones in a sly way' - John Delaney apologises over republican song
FAI CHIEF EXECUTIVE John Delaney says he is sorry if he has caused any offence after a video clip of him singing a republican song surfaced online.
The head of Irish football was filmed in a pub singing ballad Joe McDonnell after last Tuesday’s international friendly win over the US at the Aviva Stadium.
The Wolftones song tells the story of IRA member McDonnell, who died in the 1981 hunger strike.
After The Irish Times ran a story on the clip this morning, Delaney apologised in an interview with Ryan Tubridy on RTÉ 2fm.
“Joe McDonnell is a song that has been sang in my presence, that I’ve chipped in on or have sang on a number of occasions in the past,” Delaney said.
“I’m not somebody who supports violence at all and in fact over a large number of years I have been working very closely on cross border initiatives in football to break down barriers. I’m just not a violent person.
“My grandfather fought in the Civil War, he also fought in the War of Independence. I’ve always said I have a nationalist background.
“When you sing a song like that you don’t believe in every word that’s in the song. I sing a large number of songs — about five or six — and it’s normally done in a private way when there’s a sing-song.
“It’s a typical Irish thing we do. We sing songs amongst our group and you expect it to be kept to the group. Unfortunately, on occasions people use camera phones in a sly way and they try and tape it. People who are not in your company will try to make something bigger than it is.
“I’ll give you an example, Sean South from Garryowen is sung on the Irish team bus for years. From the Jack Charlton era right up to the current era.
“It has been done privately but if people want to tape these things in what I would call a sly way and then try and make them public, it’s wrong but I do accept if I’ve upset anybody I’m sorry.”
Listen to the full interview here:
RTĖ Sport / SoundCloud
Watch the video below:
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FAI John Delaney underfire Wolfetones