“It’s not true.”
Bernard Dunne has quashed talk that Michael O’Reilly was absent from the Ireland camp for two months ahead of the Olympics.
Katie Taylor’s quarter-final defeat stirred emotions on RTÉ and caused an informal inquiry into the Ireland boxing preparations for Rio.
WATCH: Katie Taylor's post-fight interview is one of the most heartbreaking pieces of television you'll ever see https://t.co/ddhfmWDu6K
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) August 15, 2016
Paddy Barnes’ defeat shocked the country and Dunne asked why he was being entered into the weight he was in the first place. Joe Ward disappointed and Katie Taylor’s loss surprised just about everyone.
The Michael O’Reilly controversy hasn’t eased either.
During the weekend, Irish coach John Conlan said, “Michael O’Reilly hadn’t been with us for eight weeks. We met him in the airport.” That raised its own issues about the team.
But Dunne claimed that wasn’t true – and was said in the heat of an interview that the coaches aren’t used to.
“Michael O’Reilly was out in camp in Azerbaijan for the month of June and he qualified out there at the end of that month,” Dunne stated. “Then the team went away on the 19th of July to Brazil so there’s only really a two-week period there where they’re not around each other.
“These aren’t guys who are used to doing interviews. One word gets used out of a whole interview. I’ve listened to the full interview and that’s one part of his interview. He probably misphrased or he said it wrong… because it’s not true.
“He was in camp in June in Azerbaijan with Zar (Antia) and he qualified at the end of that month.
“John Conlan unfortunately made a wrong statement but he was in the headlights and he said something in the heat of the moment and it’s grown legs.”
Watch the full discussion with the brilliant Joanne Cantwell.
The RTÉ boxing panel on whether John Conlan's claims of not seeing Michael O'Reilly for eight weeks could be true. https://t.co/4F8l6eDgl9
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 15, 2016
