EAMON DUNPHY says he has “grave reservations” about the Irish team wearing black armbands against Italy in Euro 2012 in memory of those killed in the 1994 Loughinisland attack by the UVF. Dunphy was one of the few footballers to draw attention to the Troubles during play when he wore a black armband while playing for Millwall in 1972 as a protest against Bloody Sunday.
Speaking at the launch of RTÉ’s Euro 2012 coverage yesterday, Dunphy said: “You need to think very carefully before you introduce politics into football. All the countries going to the European Championships have history. We have to be very circumspect about opening old wounds.”
But Football Association of Ireland chief executive John Delaney said there were no political connotations involved in the gesture, which would recall those murdered by UVF gunmen as they watched Ireland play Italy in the 1994 World Cup.
“It is a sporting gesture because it was a sporting event they were watching,” he said.
POZNAN BAILOUT FAN GETS EURO PASS
A MAN on legal aid accused of drug-dealing has had his bail restrictions lifted so he can attend Euro 2012. Paul McGuinness (33), Killinarden Estate, Tallaght, is charged with possession of cocaine worth €26,000 for sale or supply in Tallaght on December 3rd 2009. Seeking a relaxation of his bail condition to surrender his passport and sign in with local gardaí three days a week, his solicitor, Kevin Tunney, told Tallaght District Court his client was travelling to Poznan in June.
Judge John Lindsay removed the signing on condition from June 6th to June 24th and ordered that McGuinness have his passport returned until June 24th, when it had to be given back to gardaí.
