Pope John Paul II meeting the Irish team before Italia '90. A former Ireland national soccer team physio says meeting the Pope was his proudest memory from Irish football’s most successful period in a new documentary this week.
Mick Byrne met Pope John Paul II in the Vatican while the Irish squad were competing at Italia ’90 prior to their match against hosts Italy the next day.
The Dubliner says shaking hands with the Holy Father and presenting him with an Irish soccer jersey and a football was his favourite memory.
“For an Irish Catholic, meeting the Pope in 1990 was just unreal,” says Mr Byrne.
“I could never have imagined it, I’m from the inner city of Dublin and just being there, presenting Pope John Paul II with a jersey and a ball, it was just unreal.”
The meeting came about when then Irish manager Jack Charlton had joked with Mr Byrne before the Romania game that he would take him to see the Pope if Ireland made it to the quarter-finals.
Ireland won on penalties and Big Jack, staying true to his word, instructed Msgr Liam Boyle to arrange an audience for the squad, in their tracksuits, with the Pope.
Standout era
On kissing the Pope’s ring, Mr Byrne was said to have clung on to his hand for several minutes before the Holy Father eventually wriggled free.
The Boys In Green, which aired on March 9, is a three-part documentary which tells the story of a standout era in the history of Irish soccer as it imprinted itself firmly on the global map.
Part two of The Boys In Green airs on Monday, March 16 at 9.35pm on RTÉ1.