“So, you were the redhead, were you?” asked Sabina Higgins, demonstrating in one line just how effectively a President’s wife can unintentionally weaponise the passage of time.
Steve Staunton, to be fair, took it well but then none of the Italia ’90 Ireland squad who attended the reception staged in their honour at Áras an Uachtaráin with their partners were under any illusions about just how long it’s been since their glory days. They just looked glad to be together again.
Some, like the former Liverpool players who still live in that city are still in regular contact, bumping into each other at games. Others have drifted apart, though, and seemed startled by just how it could have happened.
“I roomed with Chris Morris for years up until 1993 and hadn’t seen him since until this,” said Niall Quinn with a slightly bewildered shake of the head. “Football’s like that, though. When you’re gone, you’re gone.”
There was talk of those missing from this squad reunion, and missed, with the President paying particularly warm tribute to Jack Charlton and Alan McLoughlin.
A few key figures had also been drawn away after Friday night’s appearance at the RDS and The Late Late Show with Ray Houghton, Andy Townsend and Packie Bonner fulfilling media obligations at games in Britain.
[ Alan McLoughlin gave Ireland some genuine joy when it was in short supplyOpens in new window ]
[ Jack Charlton obituary: One of Ireland’s greatest adopted sonsOpens in new window ]
There was the makings of a decent team in those that attended, though. The current manager would surely like to have a spine to his starting line-up that included the likes of Mick McCarthy, Kevin Moran, Ronnie Whelan, Frank Stapleton or John Aldridge. There were 12 in all, so a full team, one sub and, in Charlie O’Leary, a 101-year-old physio.
They’d never been up to the Áras back then, with most under pressure to squeeze in a few quiet days with family or friends before returning to their clubs by the time the mayhem of their homecoming was over. The President looked happy to be putting that right.
The team’s heroics, he said, gave us “a memory that informed the spiritual confidence of a nation like no other”, describing Italia ‘90 as “a defining moment in our history”.
That month had its educational value too, he joked, with just about every Irish person “learning one Spanish word: Olé”.
[ Italia 90: An immense escapade that left an indelible memoryOpens in new window ]
[ Italia 90: All has changed since the day the nation held its breathOpens in new window ]
McCarthy, responding on behalf of the players and their partners, spoke of how honoured they would be to be invited by any president of Ireland, but how it meant a little bit more because this President was a such football man.
“Galway’s your team, isn’t it?” he said, before adding with a grin, “well you win some, you lose some”.
The only people in the room who seemed to be enjoying it more than President Higgins were his grandchildren, Finn and Fiadh. The players weren’t far behind, though. Football’s like that, though. At least, for a special few teams, when they get back together again.
