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Áras an Uachataráin
President Higgins hosts Italia 90 squad in Áras an Uachtaráin to celebrate 35th anniversary
The team’s kitman Charlie O’Leary, who recently celebrated his 101st birthday, was also in attendance.
PRESIDENT MICHEAL D Higgins has welcomed members of the football squad that famously represented Ireland at the 1990 World Cup in Italy, which took place 35 years ago today.
The President hosted 15 members of the original Italia 90 squad at Áras an Uachtaráin this afternoon.
Team captain and former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy attended the event alongside Packie Bonner, Niall Quinn, Ray Houghton, John Aldridge, Ronnie Whelan, Steve Staunton, Kevin Sheedy, Kevin Moran, Andy Townsend, Chris Morris, Frank Stapleton, David Kelly, Chris Hughton and Bernie Slaven.
The team’s kitman Charlie O’Leary, who recently celebrated his 101st birthday, was also in attendance.
The squad appeared on the Late Late Show with Patrick Kielty yesterday evening.
Addressing the squad, Higgins paid tribute to the late Jack Charlton and Maurice Setters, who both passed away in 2020, as well as Alan McLoughlin, who died the following year in May 2021.
“Italia ‘90 was more than a tournament or a contest,” Higgins said. “It was a unique moment of shared national celebration, a time when Irish people, wherever they were in the world, came together in a spirit of joy, hope, and possibility.”
He recalled “the drama, the sheer exhilaration of that night in Genoa” in detail.
“These moments are etched in our collective memory — so full of emotion, of relief, of unbridled joy — belonging to all of us, not just as a sporting achievement, but as a piece of living history we treasure, as milestones in our national story, woven into the fabric of our shared experience as a people.”
Higgins spoke fondly of the team and their homecoming after reaching the quarter-finals in 1990.
“Each of you gave us something invaluable — memories of an unforgettable summer that continue to endure, a legacy that continues to inspire new generations of Irish footballers, and a confidence that comes from that great success, one that encourages us all to believe that we can do it again.”
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