Republic of Ireland footballer Cyrus Christie has criticised An Garda Síochána for their handling of his complaints regarding racist abuse received while representing the national team.
The subject of racist abuse while representing the Republic of Ireland, Cyrus Christie has explained how an initially promising response from the Gardaí ultimately amounted to nothing.
"They seemed like they would be great and gave me a number to call if I needed them," revealed Christie to Sportsmail. "A while later I called it and it didn't even work.
"We never heard from them again. It's then that you realise there really is no point."
11 September 2018; Cyrus Christie of Republic of Ireland arrives ahead of the International Friendly match between Poland and Republic of Ireland. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/SportsfileIn a lengthy interview carried in Tuesday's Irish Daily Mail, the Coventry-born Irish international honestly disclosed the extent of racist abuse he has been the target of in both Ireland and England.
"When you are being sent an image of four black people hanging from a tree - representing my family - and nothing gets done," he revealed, "how do you feel?
"Or when there is a petition calling for you to be lynched, how do you feel? If it was the other way round, we know how quick it would be sorted. That's the issue."
As he revealed in an interview with the Counter Attack podcast earlier this year, this abuse came in the direct aftermath of Ireland's playoff defeat to Denmark in 2017.
According to Christie, however, the issue is consistent to the point whereby he takes it upon himself to decide what to report and what to ignore. Nevertheless, in his dealings with An Garda Síochána, nothing he has brought to their attention has generated a satisfying response.
In light of the abuse received after the World Cup playoff defeat in Dublin, Christie, who made his international debut in 2014, revealed that he had regularly been the subject of racist abuse while representing Ireland.
"I've had worse in my time, I've had 10 times worse," he remarked of the online abuse targeted at him in the aftermath of that defeat. "It's one of those, it still happens in this day and age. Whether or not stuff gets done about it, whether or not it changes, who knows? It was one of those, I take it and move on.
"The police were on, but whether something will get done or not, I don't know. That's just the way it is. A lot of the time when stuff like this happens, nothing really gets done. A lot of these people are hiding behind different profiles.
"I've had a lot worse growing up, when I was in school, so for me, it was water off a duck's back. I've moved on. I was more disappointed with the result than anything. If that's what they want to resort to, they can, it's sticks and stones at the end of the day. I'm not going to be too hurt by it."
— Cyrus Christie (@cyruschristie) November 20, 2017
In response to Cyrus Christie's claims regarding the actions of the Gardaí, Off The Ball have contacted An Garda Síochána for comment and are awaiting a reply.
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