FAI Chief Executive John Delaney has apologised for any offence caused by singing the Wolfe Tones' republican ballad Joe McDonnell last week in a Dublin pub.
A video posted on YouTube last week showed Delaney singing the song in The Bath pub following the Republic of Ireland's 4-1 win over USA at the Aviva Stadium.
Interviewed on RTÉ 2fm this morning, Delaney said the manner in which the video was recorded was wrong, but that he was sorry if it caused any upset.
He stated: "First of all, Joe McDonnell is a song that has been sang in my presence and I have chipped in on a number of occasions in the past. I am not somebody who supports violence at all.
"Unfortunately, on occasions people use camera phones in a sly way" - John Delaney
"In fact over a large number of years I have been working closely on cross-border initiatives in football to break down barriers. I am just not a violent person. My grandfather fought in the Civil War and he also fought in the War of Independence. I have always said I have a nationalist background.
"When you sing a song like that, you don't believe in every word that is in the song. I sing a large number of songs, maybe five or six different ones. It's normally done in a private way when there is a sing-song. It's a typically Irish thing we do. We sing songs amongst our group and you expect it to be kept to the group.
"Unfortunately, on occasions people use camera phones in a sly way and try to tape it - people who are not in your company - and they try to make it something bigger than it is.
“What I will say is that if the song offends anybody, of course I'm sorry. It is not in my nature to want to offend people. It was something I have sung or had sang in my presence in the past."
Delaney added that the Ireland team partake in singing of similar songs such as Sean South from Garryowen on matchdays and it has been part of the regime for over 20 years.
He added: "I'll give you an example. Sean South from Garryowen has been sung on the Irish team bus for years, from the Jack Charlton era, right up to the current era.
"If people want to tape these things in what I would call a sly way, and then try to make them public, it is wrong. But I do accept that if I have upset anybody here, I'm sorry."
