I don't know if this story was posted before but it's a cracker. I got it on an email today. It may have appeared in a newspaper ...
"Just when you think you've heard all the great Irish football stories, along comes one that goes straight into the top ten.
Niall Quinn told it at a recent fundraising dinner for the Retired International Players' Fund in Dublin and, if the uproarious reaction on the night is anything to go by, this is a yarn that, despite much stiff opposition, could yet go all the way to Number 1.
The setting was the Irish dressing room in Rome in the immediate aftermath of the 1-0 defeat to hosts Italy, in the quarter-final of the 1990 World Cup. Contrary to the popular myth of the team of that era as the happy-go-lucky Irish, determined to have a party come what may, the post-match scene as described by Quinn was one of emotional devastation.
Convinced they might have nicked a game which would have put them just 90 minutes away from - gulp! - the World Cup Final, the players sat slumped, completely deflated, some with their heads in their hands, others hooded in towels, the tomb-like silence broken only by the sound of the odd boot thudding against a wall, as a weary foot shook it off.
Suddenly, the door to the dressing room burst open and a man in an elegant suit entered in good cheer and loud voice. Arms aloft he launched into a stirring speech about the warrior sons of Erin, the brave performance of the team, the honour they had brought to their country, and much more in that vein. This was Charles J Haughey in full oratorical flight.
After he'd gone on like this for a couple of minutes, Quinn was nudged in the ribs by Tony Cascarino, who rather loudly inquired: "Oo the fack is 'e, then?" Quinn growled back a whispered, "For God's sake Cas, that's the Taoiseach." Whereupon, Andy Townsend turned to Cascarino and asked: "Oo is it, Cas?" "I dunno," Cascarino replied, "but Quinny says he owns a tea shop."
