Ireland manager Martin O’Neill has apologised for comments he made involving the use of the word “queers” at a public event last week.
O’Neill and Roy Keane were guests at an event hosted at the Opera House in County Cork to mark the Irish team’s departure to France for the European Championships.
During the on-stage interview, O’Neill spoke about a trip he made to the American Superbowl with Keane earlier this year. O’Neill quipped that he had taken coaches Steve Guppy and Steve Walford with them so that people wouldn’t think he and Keane were “queers”.
Irish gay rights campaigners called for an apology for his remarks.
Offensive comments by Ireland manager Martin ONeill about LGBT people must be withdrawn .. Sports Ireland and FAI must reject bigotry
— Kieran Rose (@kieranarose) June 5, 2016
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI), however, apparently wouldn’t comment on the matter.
When asked about the comments at a press conference yesterday afternoon, O’Neill said: “Yes, I was going to address this.
“If I have made inappropriate comments in the Opera House in Cork on Wednesday evening, I obviously apologise for it, and I will attempt for the rest of my time here not to make such inappropriate comments.”
But his attempts to move on from the controversy are not sitting well with many people, who are calling O’Neill’s words “a non-apology apology”, and a prime example of endemic problems with casual homophobia that still exist in the game.
Martin O'Neill has a right to be an offensive, mean-minded twit. And we have a right to be offended and call him on his non-apology.
— Peter McGuire 🏳️🌈 (@PeterMcGuireIE) June 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/davidcochrane/status/739876755603922946
https://twitter.com/UnaMullally/status/739946762660655104
'If I made inappropriate comments, I obviously apologise'. "Apologies" that begin "If I" are not "genuine apologies" https://t.co/HQoBC7X0zY
— Mark Kelly (@Blackhall99) June 6, 2016
https://twitter.com/mrjohnbutler/status/739858073062236162
