HAVING SHRUGGED off an injury or two in his day to star for the Republic of Ireland Paul McGrath is hopeful Richard Dunne can do the same this summer but the former Manchester United and Aston Villa defender admits to being increasingly concerned about the 32-year-old being at his best in Poland this summer.

It is six weeks now since Dunne broke his collar bone in a collision with Manchester city goalkeeper Joe Hart and while both the defender and his club, Aston Villa, have maintained he is on course to return before the end of the season, McGrath, who went to USA’94 while battling to recover from a frozen shoulder, is worried that returning so late will hamper him when it comes to the critically important group games against Croatia, Spain and Italy.

“I think most people in Ireland would attribute us being there to Richard,” said the 52-year-old at the launch of this year’s Johnny Giles Walk of Dreams at the Aviva stadium yesterday. “Some of the games he played, I think he was fantastic as usual. He is one of the players we need to be at their best at the competition. Even if he gets games in beforehand, I’d be dicey about him being up to scratch.

“I’d be desperate for him to be okay, though,” he continued. “We’re at the stage of the season where he’d need to be getting games or at least putting in the fitness regime to make it to the Euros. We need him and Trap needs him so he might give him extra time before making that final analysis.”

Ultimately, he suggested, the Italian would probably stand by him even if he not quite right. “An 80 per cent fit Richard Dunne, I’d bring,” he said.

McGrath again insisted yesterday Dunne’s performance in Moscow last year was better than any game he had ever played for Ireland and he predicted it might take something similar to keep the Spanish at bay in Ireland’s second match of the tournament.

Well, something along the lines of his own display against Italy in Giants Stadium 18 years ago might just do as well, somebody suggested but McGrath was having none of it. “Dunne in Russia,” he says, “was frightening, it was almost like he did it on his own,” but hampered by that injured shoulder in New Jersey, he recalls, “I couldn’t get in my running stride, I couldn’t jump properly to head balls, it was bad for me. It worked out . . . we won, everyone thought it was okay because we won. But I would think that’s one of the jammiest games I’ve ever had, seriously.

“I was lucky in so many ways. The only way I could get back to one ball in particular was to jump in the air. If I reached it, it was safety; if I missed it, which I almost did, I’d be the villain. The day just fell my way, that’s as true as God.”

It’s probably not the way that most people who witnessed his display that day would remember it but even now, who would dream of arguing with McGrath who looks remarkably fit, well and relaxed. His role in the Walk of Dreams project is simply to take part in his local one in Wexford on the day and he, like Giles himself, is hoping to improve on last year’s event when, with the help of sponsors Three, around €360,000 was raised by and for the “football family”.

The inaugural walk did attract some criticism with callers to RTÉ the next day raising issues about aspects of the organisation but the former Ireland boss describes them as “hiccups” and insists that work has been done on improving things this time around.

“The profit margin was good, we actually raised €360,000 and the clubs kept half of it while we got €180,000 back which has all gone out in grants,” he says. “I think there was about 60 clubs benefited from applications plus what they made on the day so in terms of uniting people involved in football and raising money on the day we achieved what we were trying to with the walk. What went wrong was very small in relation to that.”

Information on participating in the event, which takes place on Monday, May 7th, is available at johngilesfoundation.com