John Delaney has said the recording made of him singing a republican song in a Dublin pub was undertaken "in a sly way" and that had he known someone was filming him he never would have sung the song.
“If I had known that on any occasion somebody would, in a sly way, tape me and try and use it in a way that represents you incorrectly I would never have sang it,” he told Pat Kenny on Newstalk this morning.
“If you’re in private it should be private and it should be left that way," he added.
The FAI chief executive was filmed in The Bath pub in Dublin, close to the Aviva stadium, following last Tuesday’s 4-1 friendly win over the USA. Mr Delaney was singing “Joe McDonnell”, a republican ballad by the Wolfe Tones about the Provisional IRA member who died during the 1981 hunger strike. The song is written from McDonnell’s perspective. McDonnell was imprisoned in 1977 following the bombing of a furniture shop in 1976.
Going beyond this issue, Delaney suggested this leads to a broader debate about the boundaries of personal privacy.
“It probably leads to a broader debate, when is somebody’s private life private, you know?”
“We all sing songs in private, amongst our friends and an Irish sing-song is something that we all do. Singing an Irish song in an Irish pub in not something that is unfamiliar to most people but you sing it in private ... on many occasions I’ve heard that song sang and I’ve chipped in and I’ve sang it,” he said.
While apologising if anyone took offence at his actions, Mr Delaney said that his singing the song does not mean he supports all of the lyrics or message associated with it.
“If anybody took offence of course I’m sorry about it,” he said. “I’m not somebody in favour of violence."
“I’ve made it very clear in the past I’m very nationalistic, that my grandfather fought in the civil war and the war of independence for our tricolour,” he added.
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