John Giles has said that John Delaney should resign from the FAI, after a tumultuous month for Irish football administration, and has spoken for the first time on concerns regarding the John Giles Foundation.
Speaking to Off The Ball, Giles believes that the time has come for Delaney to step away from the organisation altogether after it was announced that he has 'offered to voluntarily step aside' while an investigation into financial and corporate governance is initiated.
"I think that there is such an amount of criticism now, and things have got to such a stage where the right thing to do would be to resign.
"I think it has got to the stage where there is a lack of confidence in the whole situation, and the board are resigning en bloc, and it would be very difficult for John to stay on."
Giles also addressed concerns regarding the John Giles Foundation, which has come under scrutiny in the past week, clarifying that the foundation is a trust, not a charity, and has different accounting responsibilities as a result.
John was also keen to stress that he is confident that the foundation has kept up to scratch with their expected practices.
"I would be very confident that the money that came into the trust went out in grants to the teams around the country that applied for them. That is what I know, and I would be very disappointed and surprised if there was anything else that didn't occur as I have said.
Giles also says that he has no problem with journalists looking into the situation as they are doing their jobs, but is disappointed that the foundation is in the news for the wrong reasons.
"I feel a bit sad that I am in a position where I have to justify myself.
"I think that the foundation over the last nine or ten years has done good work.
"What I have found with schoolboy football is that you would want to have a lot of money to really solve the problem, but we give them enough to give them a set of jerseys, or nets, and I have found them unbelievably grateful for that. Every little helps."
John also reiterated that Grant Thornton were employed two years ago within the foundation, and were given "a clean bill of health."
Giles was also keen to reiterate that he is still happy to lend his name to the foundation and hopes that their work continues for much longer.
"I'm getting on a bit now. I hope that it lasts another nine years."
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