THE Republic's most senior football official has been forced to apologise after being filmed singing a republican song in a Dublin bar.
FAI chief John Delaney was videoed on a mobile phone singing the Wolfe Tones' song Joe McDonnell, which tells the story of the IRA hunger striker who died in the H-Blocks in 1981 after going 61 days without food.
The 31-second video, which received thousands of views on YouTube, shows Mr Delaney leaning against a bar and singing after last week's international friendly victory of the United States at the Aviva Stadium.
The football body boss was recorded singing the song as others looked on, the same night England manager Roy Hodgson apologised for English fans singing anti-IRA songs during their match with Scotland.
Online reaction to the video has ranged from people who said Mr Delaney should be free to sing any song to those who criticised his actions as "scandalous".
Responding yesterday, Mr Delaney said he had sung the song on a "number of occasions in the past", but stressed that he did not support violence.
He said he had been working "very closely" on cross-border initiatives to "break down barriers" in recent years.
"My grandfather fought in the Civil War, he fought in the War of Independence. I've always said I have a nationalist background," he said.
"When you sing a song like that you don't believe every word that's in the song. I sing a large number of songs, about five or six, and it's normally done in private when there's a sing-song."
Mr Delaney defended his actions as a "typical Irish thing", and criticised the person responsible for videoing and uploading the scene, saying: "Unfortunately, on occasion people use camera phones in a sly way and then try and tape it. People who are not in your company will try and make something bigger than it is."
"If the song offends anybody, I'm sorry. It's not in my nature to want to offend people."
DUP MEP Diane Dodds described the incident as "totally abhorrent".
"This footage can only be described as shameful and shocking. These are songs quite clearly intended to glorify the actions of convicted IRA bombers and gunmen," Mrs Dodds said.
Ulster Unionist MLA Leslie Cree said he was "shocked".
"The FAI have a big decision to make as to whether or not it is wise to have this individual as the public face of their organisation," he said.
* SONG: Left the Wolfe Tones who wrote the song about IRA hunger striker Joe McDonnell, below right, which FAI chief John Delaney, below left, was filmed singing last week