UFC star Conor McGregor has voiced his support for the Ireland women's football team after a video emerged of them singing a song containing a pro-IRA chant.
Video showed the Irish players reciting Celtic Symphony by Wolfe Tones after their World Cup play-off win over Scotland on Tuesday. In the footage, which was streamed live on goalkeeper Grace Moloney's Instagram account, the players could be seen celebrating in the dressing room whilst collectively singing the lyric 'ooh ah up the Ra' from the song.
McGregor tweeted an edited video of Sky Sports presenter Rob Wooton announcing news that members of the Ireland team had apologised for the chant, only for the clip to be followed by the infamous "I'd like to apologise to absolute nobody" speech he made after defeating Eddie Alvarez in their 2016 fight. The former two-weight champion captioned the clip "Congrats ladies" with a love heart and Ireland flag emoji.
UEFA has since launched an investigation into the video as the Football Association of Ireland apologised for any offence caused by the song. Several players from the Ireland team have also apologised, such as forward Aine O'Gorman and midfielder Chloe Mustaki. "We're all really sorry, it's a massive lapse of judgement on our end. There was lots going on when the final whistle went and we absolutely didn't mean to cause any hurt on our end, so we apologise for that absolutely," the latter said.
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Ireland manager Vera Pauw condemned the video and insisted her players apologised "from the bottom of their hearts" for singing the chant. "We're sincerely, deeply sorry for what happened," she told BBC. "It doesn't matter if the players meant [harm] or not, as it doesn't mean they shouldn't realise what they are doing. This is something that goes very deeply into the history of Ireland and as soon as you hurt people you do something wrong and we've done something wrong here."
The win against Scotland meant Ireland progressed to the finals of next year's World Cup which takes across July and August in Australia and New Zealand. Fans have since reacted to former UFC champion McGregor's video by labelling him a "legend" and "superstar" for defending the women's team.
