Eamon Dunphy
Encyclopedia
Eamon Martin Dunphy is an Irish
media personality, radio and television presenter, author, sports pundit, as well as a former professional football player. He is best known as a soccer analyst on Raidió Teilifís Éireann
(RTÉ)'s coverage of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League
. He was paid €225,485 for his services by RTÉ in 2009. He has been impersonated and lampooned by several Irish comedy shows including Scrap Saturday
, Après Match
and Nob Nation
.
Dunphy has worked for several radio and television stations, including TV3 (for which he has presented a chat show and a game show) and he was the original presenter of The Last Word
on Today FM
. Between 2004 and 2006, Dunphy presented the breakfast programme on Dublin's local Newstalk 106 radio station (now a national broadcaster). Later he moved to RTÉ Radio 1
, where he presented a weekly programme, Conversations with Eamon Dunphy
. This ended in mid 2009. He continues to write a column on football for the Irish Daily Star
newspaper.
, on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Dunphy attended Saint Patrick's National School, Drumcondra. In later years, future Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern
attended the same school.
as an apprentice. Dunphy did not break into the first team at United and subsequently left to play for York City
, Millwall
, Charlton Athletic
and Reading
. It was at Millwall that Dunphy made the most impact; he was considered an intelligent and skillful player in Millwall's midfield.
Dunphy was a member of "The Class of '71", the Millwall side that lost out on promotion to the old Division One by one point.
and remains Millwall's most capped
international footballer.
He made his Ireland début in the play-off at the Parc des Princes
in Paris
for the 1966 FIFA World Cup
which Spain
won 1-0, thanks to a José Ufarte goal. He went on to become, in his own words, "a good player, not a great player".
at Shamrock Rovers
in charge of youth development. Giles wanted to make the club Ireland's first full time professional club and he wished to make Rovers a strong force in European football by developing talented young Irish players, who would have otherwise have gone to England. However, despite an FAI Cup
winners medal in 1978 (his only medal in senior football) and 2 appearances in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
, Dunphy became disillusioned with the Irish game and dropped out of football altogether to concentrate on a career in journalism.
and then contributing regular columns on both football and current events for the Sunday Independent
. He currently writes a column on football for the Daily Star
s Irish edition.
He has also worked for Ireland on Sunday
(now The Irish Mail on Sunday), The Sunday Press
(now defunct), and for the Irish Examiner
.
Since the 1980s, Dunphy has also written a number of books. His first and most widely praised book is Only a Game?: Diary of a Professional Footballer, which is an autobiographical account of his days playing for Millwall. Dunphy wrote a diary of his 1973–4 season which began well for him at second division Millwall but subsequently ended in disillusionment. Written during the season, it recorded events from the dressing room. In 1985, rock band U2
and manager Paul McGuinness
commissioned him to write the story of their origins, formation, early years and the time leading up to their phenomenally successful album, The Joshua Tree
. His book Unforgettable Fire - The Story of U2 was published in 1988. It received some favourable reviews, but critics close to the band spoke of many inaccuracies. A verbal war erupted in the press during which Dunphy called lead singer Bono
a "pompous git". Dunphy has also written a biography of long-serving Manchester United manager Matt Busby
and in 2002 ghost wrote
the autobiography
of Republic of Ireland and Manchester United player Roy Keane
.
's football coverage. Since RTÉ acquired the rights to show English football, Dunphy has been a regular contributor to Premier Soccer Saturday
.
In 2001, Dunphy became the first male host of the quiz show The Weakest Link
, which aired on TV3, for just one series. In 2003, Dunphy was hired again by TV3 to host their new Friday night chat show, entitled The Dunphy Show
. Pitted head-to-head with RTÉ's long-running flagship programme, The Late Late Show
, Dunphy's show lost what was a highly publicised "ratings war", and was cancelled before its original run was to conclude.
He has also had a prominent radio career, and was the original host in 1997 of the popular current affairs show The Last Word on Today FM. In September 2004, Dunphy took over The Breakfast Show slot on the Dublin radio station Newstalk 106
from David McWilliams
. The show tried to court controversy and listeners in equal measure. He failed to attract the large listenership predicted, with only a few additional thousand tuning in. In June 2006 Dunphy announced his intention to leave Newstalk 106, citing an inability to sustain the demands of an early morning schedule. Subsequent to his departure from Newstalk 106 Dunphy confirmed he was suffering from a viral illness. He later recovered.
In July 2006, RTÉ announced that Dunphy would present a new weekly programme as part of the new RTÉ Radio 1 autumn schedule. Dunphy is the first presenter of a made-for-mobile TV show on the 3 mobile
network in Ireland. Dunphy's rants and Spoofer of the Week are watched by thousands of 3 customers. The shows were awarded "Best Entertainment Show" at Ireland's Digital Media Awards. Dunphy readily admits he never uses a mobile himself but enjoys filming for a mobile audience from the comfort of his own living room in Ranelagh.
In 2009, he made an emotive outburst on The Late Late Show
during a discussion regarding then Taoiseach
Bertie Ahern
's financial affairs.
Dunphy earned from RTÉ
, €328,051 in 2008 and €285,915 in 2007.
He contributed to RTÉ Sport
's coverage of the 2010 World Cup
.
and then President of Ireland
, Mary Robinson
. He argued at the time that people such as former Taoiseach
Charles Haughey
represented the "real people of Ireland", and were being attacked by the false left wing consensus of "Official Ireland".
Dunphy was repeatedly critical of Michel Platini during the 1982 World Cup, claiming that he was overrated as a player.
Dunphy was a harsh critic of Jack Charlton
, Ireland's most successful national team manager. Dunphy accused Charlton of being a bully, of playing ugly football and of not making the best use of the players at his disposal. Charlton labelled him a "bitter little man". An enmity developed between the two men.
In 1990, Dunphy caused a massive controversy and a national outcry in Ireland by attacking the performance of the national team at the World Cup
. After a 0-0 draw with Egypt, he called the team "a disgrace". This performance temporarily turned Dunphy into a figure of public hatred in Ireland. Dunphy remained critical of Charlton for the remainder of his tenure as manager, but the public ostracism of Dunphy subsided eventually.
In 2002, he aggressively defended Roy Keane
following his dismissal by Mick McCarthy
from the Irish team at the World Cup
in Japan
and Korea
over the team's training facilities and programme in Saipan
.
Initially critical of Cristiano Ronaldo
, he said on RTÉ after the Manchester United-S.L. Benfica UEFA Champions League
game the way Ronaldo "clicks his heels"
, is the "most wicked thing in the game." Before the second leg of Manchester United's game against Roma in 2006-07 he branded Ronaldo "a simple cheat" and a "Poof ball who's never done it in the big games". He also called Michael Carrick a "nothing player" and described Roma as "a cut above" United. Carrick and Ronaldo each scored two goals as Manchester United won the match 7-1. Following the match Dunphy reluctantly praised the United performance. In an article he wrote for the Irish Daily Star, January 2008, Dunphy admitted that he "couldn't have been more wrong about Cristiano Ronaldo". He further claimed that Ronaldo "looks like the real deal", and concluded by saying: "Ronaldo is something special. I was wrong".
In 2008, Dunphy described Roy Keane as a "bullshitter" accusing him of selling his soul and criticizing him for his sympathy towards Steve Staunton and the proposal to play Premier League games in different countries. He also said that when he worked on Keane's biography six years ago Keane said the two things he hated most in life were "politicians and bullshitters". Dunphy then wrote that he had turned into both.
During Ireland's 2010 World Cup Qualification campaign, he became a critic of Giovanni Trappatoni's style of play and managerial decisions. After Ireland's tough away win against Cyprus on 5 September 2009, Dunphy stated "The performance over 90 minutes was depressing; it exposed the limitations of the coach’s philosophy." Dunphy also summed up how he felt about the type of play "When kids see Lionel Messi, Steven Gerrard or Ronaldo they want to go out in the park and do what they’ve seen the guys do the night before. Nobody wants to go out in the park in the morning and hit the ball 60 yards up in air".
Dunphy described "Rule Britannia" as "jingoistic nonsense" during RTÉ 2's post-match analysis of the England v Slovenia World Cup game on 23 June 2010.
There was a furore and complaints were made to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland when Dunphy revealed who he would vote for ahead of the Irish presidential election, 2011.
, known to international audiences as Father Ted
, did a much admired Eamon Dunphy impression on the satirical radio show Scrap Saturday
. Different sketches had him engaged in apparent inane and ridiculous arguments. They ranged from his criticism of Mother Teresa
for not being a real nun to his attack on the week's weather.
Dunphy's hyperbole
is also parodied
on RTÉ's Après Match
show lampooning celebrities, footballers and broadcasters.
village in Dublin. He also owns a holiday home in Deauville
, France
.
Dunphy married his partner of 18 years RTÉ
Commissioning Editor Jane Gogan, at the Unitarian Church on St Stephen's Green on 24 September 2009.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
media personality, radio and television presenter, author, sports pundit, as well as a former professional football player. He is best known as a soccer analyst on Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
(RTÉ)'s coverage of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
. He was paid €225,485 for his services by RTÉ in 2009. He has been impersonated and lampooned by several Irish comedy shows including Scrap Saturday
Scrap Saturday
Scrap Saturday was a satirical radio sketch show created by Dermot Morgan, who was also the main performer on the show, and Gerry Stembridge, which ran on RTÉ Radio 1 on Saturday mornings from 1989 until 1991. Pauline McLynn and Owen Roe participated as performers.The half-hour show lampooned...
, Après Match
Après Match
Après Match is an Irish comedy show normally screened after competitive Irish soccer matches on RTÉ. It is performed by Barry Murphy, Risteárd Cooper and Gary Cooke. It grew out of Barry Murphy and Risteárd Cooper's Frank's Euro Ting sketches which first enlivened RTÉ's coverage of Euro '96 for...
and Nob Nation
Nob Nation
Nob Nation is the title of a series of topical comedy pieces broadcast since November 2006 on two national radio stations in Ireland, RTÉ 2fm and RTÉ Radio 1. The programmes are broadcast Monday through Saturday each week...
.
Dunphy has worked for several radio and television stations, including TV3 (for which he has presented a chat show and a game show) and he was the original presenter of The Last Word
The Last Word (radio show)
The Last Word is an Irish radio news review show hosted by Matt Cooper on Today FM on weekday evenings. Eamon Dunphy originally hosted the show but stepped down in November 2002.Kevin Myers was a regular stand-in presenter in the early years of the show....
on Today FM
Today FM
Radio Ireland Ltd, trading as 100-102 Today FM is an Irish commercial FM radio station which is available nationally. The station, which commenced broadcasting on Saint Patrick's Day in 1997, can be received nationally and carries a mix of music and talk...
. Between 2004 and 2006, Dunphy presented the breakfast programme on Dublin's local Newstalk 106 radio station (now a national broadcaster). Later he moved to RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ Radio 1 is the principal radio channel of Irish public-service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926...
, where he presented a weekly programme, Conversations with Eamon Dunphy
Conversations with Eamon Dunphy
Conversations with Eamon Dunphy was an Irish radio programme, on which Eamon Dunphy interviewed various celebrities. It aired on Saturdays on RTÉ Radio 1.On July 7, 2009, Dunphy announced he would cease presenting his programme, to concentrate on sport....
. This ended in mid 2009. He continues to write a column on football for the Irish Daily Star
Irish Daily Star
The Irish Daily Star is a tabloid newspaper published in Ireland by the Independent Star Limited. Independent Star Limited is a joint venture between Richard Desmond's UK based Express Newspapers Limited, which owns the British Daily Star, and Irish news magnate Denis O'Brien's Independent News &...
newspaper.
Early life
Eamon Dunphy grew up in DrumcondraDrumcondra, Dublin
Drumcondra is a residential area and inner suburb on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is administered by Dublin City Council.The River Tolka and the Royal Canal flow through the area.-History:...
, on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Dunphy attended Saint Patrick's National School, Drumcondra. In later years, future Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
attended the same school.
Club career
A promising footballer, he left Dublin while still a teenager to join Manchester UnitedManchester United F.C.
Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...
as an apprentice. Dunphy did not break into the first team at United and subsequently left to play for York City
York City F.C.
York City Football Club is an English football club based in York, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Conference National, the fifth tier of English football. Founded in 1922, they joined the Football League in 1929, and have spent most of their history in the lower divisions...
, Millwall
Millwall F.C.
Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the...
, Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...
and Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...
. It was at Millwall that Dunphy made the most impact; he was considered an intelligent and skillful player in Millwall's midfield.
Dunphy was a member of "The Class of '71", the Millwall side that lost out on promotion to the old Division One by one point.
International career
Dunphy played 23 times for the Republic of IrelandRepublic of Ireland national football team
The Republic of Ireland national football team represents Ireland in association football. It is run by the Football Association of Ireland and currently plays home fixtures at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, which opened in May 2010....
and remains Millwall's most capped
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
international footballer.
He made his Ireland début in the play-off at the Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for the 1966 FIFA World Cup
1966 FIFA World Cup
The 1966 FIFA World Cup, the eighth staging of the World Cup, was held in England from 11 July to 30 July. England beat West Germany 4–2 in the final, winning the World Cup for the first time, so becoming the first host to win the tournament since Italy in 1934.-Host selection:England was chosen as...
which Spain
Spain national football team
The Spain national football team represents Spain in international association football and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Football Federation, the governing body for football in Spain. The current head coach is Vicente del Bosque...
won 1-0, thanks to a José Ufarte goal. He went on to become, in his own words, "a good player, not a great player".
Coaching
Upon his return to Ireland, Dunphy took up a coaching position with St Benildus College. In 1977, he joined Johnny GilesJohnny Giles
Michael John "Johnny" Giles is a former association footballer and manager best remembered for his time as a midfielder with Leeds United in the 1960s and 1970s...
at Shamrock Rovers
Shamrock Rovers F.C.
Shamrock Rovers Football Club are a professional football club from Dublin, Ireland. They compete in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland and are the most successful club in Irish football history. The club have won the League of Ireland title a record 17 times and the FAI Cup a record 24...
in charge of youth development. Giles wanted to make the club Ireland's first full time professional club and he wished to make Rovers a strong force in European football by developing talented young Irish players, who would have otherwise have gone to England. However, despite an FAI Cup
FAI Cup
The Football Association of Ireland Challenge Cup, known as the FAI Ford Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland...
winners medal in 1978 (his only medal in senior football) and 2 appearances in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...
, Dunphy became disillusioned with the Irish game and dropped out of football altogether to concentrate on a career in journalism.
Journalism
After retiring from the game, Dunphy first began writing on football for the Sunday TribuneSunday Tribune
The Sunday Tribune was an Irish Sunday broadsheet newspaper published by Tribune Newspapers plc. It was edited in its final years by Nóirín Hegarty, who changed both the tone and the physical format of the newspaper from broadsheet to tabloid. Former editors include Conor Brady, Vincent Browne,...
and then contributing regular columns on both football and current events for the Sunday Independent
Sunday Independent
The Sunday Independent is a broadsheet Sunday newspaper published in Ireland by Independent News and Media plc. The newspaper is edited by Aengus Fanning, and is the biggest selling Irish Sunday newspaper by a large margin ; average circulation of 291,323 between June 2004 and January 2005,...
. He currently writes a column on football for the Daily Star
Irish Daily Star
The Irish Daily Star is a tabloid newspaper published in Ireland by the Independent Star Limited. Independent Star Limited is a joint venture between Richard Desmond's UK based Express Newspapers Limited, which owns the British Daily Star, and Irish news magnate Denis O'Brien's Independent News &...
s Irish edition.
He has also worked for Ireland on Sunday
Ireland on Sunday
Ireland on Sunday was a Sunday newspaper in the Republic of Ireland, published by Associated Newspapers Ireland Limited, a subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc...
(now The Irish Mail on Sunday), The Sunday Press
The Sunday Press
The Sunday Press was a weekly newspaper published in Ireland from 1949 until 1995. It was launched by Éamon de Valera's Irish Press group following the defeat of his Fianna Fáil party in the Irish general election, 1948...
(now defunct), and for the Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner
The Irish Examiner, formerly The Cork Examiner and then The Examiner, is an Irish national daily newspaper which primarily circulates in the Munster region surrounding its base in Cork, though it is available throughout the country...
.
Since the 1980s, Dunphy has also written a number of books. His first and most widely praised book is Only a Game?: Diary of a Professional Footballer, which is an autobiographical account of his days playing for Millwall. Dunphy wrote a diary of his 1973–4 season which began well for him at second division Millwall but subsequently ended in disillusionment. Written during the season, it recorded events from the dressing room. In 1985, rock band U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
and manager Paul McGuinness
Paul McGuinness
Paul McGuinness is the main shareholder and founder of Principle Management Limited: an artist management company based in Dublin, Ireland, which has managed U2 from the start of their successful career...
commissioned him to write the story of their origins, formation, early years and the time leading up to their phenomenally successful album, The Joshua Tree
The Joshua Tree
The Joshua Tree is the fifth studio album by rock band U2. It was produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno, and was released on 9 March 1987 on Island Records. In contrast to the ambient experimentation of their 1984 release The Unforgettable Fire, U2 aimed for a harder-hitting sound on The Joshua...
. His book Unforgettable Fire - The Story of U2 was published in 1988. It received some favourable reviews, but critics close to the band spoke of many inaccuracies. A verbal war erupted in the press during which Dunphy called lead singer Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
a "pompous git". Dunphy has also written a biography of long-serving Manchester United manager Matt Busby
Matt Busby
Sir Alexander Matthew "Matt" Busby, CBE, KCSG was a Scottish football player and manager, most noted for managing Manchester United between 1945 and 1969 and again for the second half of the 1970–1971 season...
and in 2002 ghost wrote
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
the autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
of Republic of Ireland and Manchester United player Roy Keane
Roy Keane
Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....
.
Broadcasting career
Since the mid 1980s, Dunphy has appeared as an analyst in RTÉRaidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
's football coverage. Since RTÉ acquired the rights to show English football, Dunphy has been a regular contributor to Premier Soccer Saturday
Premier Soccer Saturday
Premier Soccer Saturday is the principal weekly club association football programme on RTÉ.It is broadcast on RTÉ Two every Saturday evening between 19:30 and 21:00 and occasionally on Sunday during the English league soccer season, showing highlights of Premier League football matches...
.
In 2001, Dunphy became the first male host of the quiz show The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
, which aired on TV3, for just one series. In 2003, Dunphy was hired again by TV3 to host their new Friday night chat show, entitled The Dunphy Show
The Dunphy Show
The Dunphy Show is an Irish chat show hosted by Eamon Dunphy that aired for one series on TV3 in 2003. The programme featured guest interviews, audience participation and live music from guest music groups...
. Pitted head-to-head with RTÉ's long-running flagship programme, The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
, Dunphy's show lost what was a highly publicised "ratings war", and was cancelled before its original run was to conclude.
He has also had a prominent radio career, and was the original host in 1997 of the popular current affairs show The Last Word on Today FM. In September 2004, Dunphy took over The Breakfast Show slot on the Dublin radio station Newstalk 106
NewsTalk 106
Newstalk is an Independent Radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Denis O'Brien's Communicorp group, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland.The station is a "quasi-national" station as of 29 September...
from David McWilliams
David McWilliams
David McWilliams is an Irish journalist and economist. McWilliams has worked with as an economist with Central Bank of Ireland and as a banker with UBS bank and the Banque Nationale de Paris...
. The show tried to court controversy and listeners in equal measure. He failed to attract the large listenership predicted, with only a few additional thousand tuning in. In June 2006 Dunphy announced his intention to leave Newstalk 106, citing an inability to sustain the demands of an early morning schedule. Subsequent to his departure from Newstalk 106 Dunphy confirmed he was suffering from a viral illness. He later recovered.
In July 2006, RTÉ announced that Dunphy would present a new weekly programme as part of the new RTÉ Radio 1 autumn schedule. Dunphy is the first presenter of a made-for-mobile TV show on the 3 mobile
Hutchison 3G
3 is a brand name under which several UMTS-based mobile phone networks and Broadband Internet Providers are operated in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom...
network in Ireland. Dunphy's rants and Spoofer of the Week are watched by thousands of 3 customers. The shows were awarded "Best Entertainment Show" at Ireland's Digital Media Awards. Dunphy readily admits he never uses a mobile himself but enjoys filming for a mobile audience from the comfort of his own living room in Ranelagh.
In 2009, he made an emotive outburst on The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show
The Late Late Show, sometimes referred to as The Late Late, or in some cases by the acronym LLS, is the world's longest-running chat show by the same broadcaster and the official flagship television programme of Irish broadcasting company RTÉ...
during a discussion regarding then Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Bertie Ahern
Bertie Ahern
Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....
's financial affairs.
Dunphy earned from RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
, €328,051 in 2008 and €285,915 in 2007.
He contributed to RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport
RTÉ Sport is a cross platform, integrated business division of Irish broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann, responsible for the provision of sport coverage on RTÉ Radio, RTÉ Television, and RTÉ.ie....
's coverage of the 2010 World Cup
2010 FIFA World Cup
The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010...
.
Controversy
Always a journalist who courted controversy, among the targets of his disapproval were television figures such as Pat Kenny and a concept he called "Official Ireland"—by which he meant the Irish media and cultural elite, epitomised by the newspaper The Irish TimesThe Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
and then President of Ireland
President of Ireland
The President of Ireland is the head of state of Ireland. The President is usually directly elected by the people for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms. The presidency is largely a ceremonial office, but the President does exercise certain limited powers with absolute...
, Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson
Mary Therese Winifred Robinson served as the seventh, and first female, President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, from 1997 to 2002. She first rose to prominence as an academic, barrister, campaigner and member of the Irish Senate...
. He argued at the time that people such as former Taoiseach
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government or prime minister of Ireland. The Taoiseach is appointed by the President upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann, the lower house of the Oireachtas , and must, in order to remain in office, retain the support of a majority in the Dáil.The current Taoiseach is...
Charles Haughey
Charles Haughey
Charles James "Charlie" Haughey was Taoiseach of Ireland, serving three terms in office . He was also the fourth leader of Fianna Fáil...
represented the "real people of Ireland", and were being attacked by the false left wing consensus of "Official Ireland".
Dunphy was repeatedly critical of Michel Platini during the 1982 World Cup, claiming that he was overrated as a player.
Dunphy was a harsh critic of Jack Charlton
Jack Charlton
John "Jack" Charlton, OBE, DL is a former footballer and manager who played for Leeds United in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, and was part of the England team who won the 1966 World Cup...
, Ireland's most successful national team manager. Dunphy accused Charlton of being a bully, of playing ugly football and of not making the best use of the players at his disposal. Charlton labelled him a "bitter little man". An enmity developed between the two men.
In 1990, Dunphy caused a massive controversy and a national outcry in Ireland by attacking the performance of the national team at the World Cup
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event twice. Teams representing 116 national football associations from all six populated...
. After a 0-0 draw with Egypt, he called the team "a disgrace". This performance temporarily turned Dunphy into a figure of public hatred in Ireland. Dunphy remained critical of Charlton for the remainder of his tenure as manager, but the public ostracism of Dunphy subsided eventually.
In 2002, he aggressively defended Roy Keane
Roy Keane
Roy Maurice Keane is an Irish former footballer and manager. In his 18-year playing career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, before ending his career at Celtic in Scotland....
following his dismissal by Mick McCarthy
Mick McCarthy
Michael Joseph "Mick" McCarthy is an English-born former Irish international footballer who is currently the manager of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he has been in charge since July 2006....
from the Irish team at the World Cup
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup was the 17th staging of the FIFA World Cup, held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia, and the last in which the golden goal rule was implemented. Brazil won the tournament for a record fifth time, beating Germany 2–0...
in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
and Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
over the team's training facilities and programme in Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
.
Initially critical of Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro, OIH, , commonly known as Cristiano Ronaldo, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or striker for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and is the captain of the Portuguese national team...
, he said on RTÉ after the Manchester United-S.L. Benfica UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
game the way Ronaldo "clicks his heels"
Diving (football)
In association football, diving is an attempt by a player to gain an unfair advantage by diving to the ground and possibly feigning an injury, to appear as if a foul has been committed. Dives are often used to exaggerate the amount of contact present in a challenge...
, is the "most wicked thing in the game." Before the second leg of Manchester United's game against Roma in 2006-07 he branded Ronaldo "a simple cheat" and a "Poof ball who's never done it in the big games". He also called Michael Carrick a "nothing player" and described Roma as "a cut above" United. Carrick and Ronaldo each scored two goals as Manchester United won the match 7-1. Following the match Dunphy reluctantly praised the United performance. In an article he wrote for the Irish Daily Star, January 2008, Dunphy admitted that he "couldn't have been more wrong about Cristiano Ronaldo". He further claimed that Ronaldo "looks like the real deal", and concluded by saying: "Ronaldo is something special. I was wrong".
In 2008, Dunphy described Roy Keane as a "bullshitter" accusing him of selling his soul and criticizing him for his sympathy towards Steve Staunton and the proposal to play Premier League games in different countries. He also said that when he worked on Keane's biography six years ago Keane said the two things he hated most in life were "politicians and bullshitters". Dunphy then wrote that he had turned into both.
During Ireland's 2010 World Cup Qualification campaign, he became a critic of Giovanni Trappatoni's style of play and managerial decisions. After Ireland's tough away win against Cyprus on 5 September 2009, Dunphy stated "The performance over 90 minutes was depressing; it exposed the limitations of the coach’s philosophy." Dunphy also summed up how he felt about the type of play "When kids see Lionel Messi, Steven Gerrard or Ronaldo they want to go out in the park and do what they’ve seen the guys do the night before. Nobody wants to go out in the park in the morning and hit the ball 60 yards up in air".
Dunphy described "Rule Britannia" as "jingoistic nonsense" during RTÉ 2's post-match analysis of the England v Slovenia World Cup game on 23 June 2010.
There was a furore and complaints were made to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland when Dunphy revealed who he would vote for ahead of the Irish presidential election, 2011.
In popular culture
The late satirist Dermot MorganDermot Morgan
Dermot John Morgan was an Irish comedian, actor and former schoolteacher, who achieved international renown for his roles as Father Ted Crilly in the Channel 4 sitcom Father Ted and a strip club MC in Taffin....
, known to international audiences as Father Ted
Father Ted
Father Ted is a comedy series set in Ireland that was produced by Hat Trick Productions for British broadcaster Channel 4. Written jointly by Irish writers Arthur Mathews and Graham Linehan and starring a predominantly Irish cast, it originally aired over three series from 21 April 1995 until 1 May...
, did a much admired Eamon Dunphy impression on the satirical radio show Scrap Saturday
Scrap Saturday
Scrap Saturday was a satirical radio sketch show created by Dermot Morgan, who was also the main performer on the show, and Gerry Stembridge, which ran on RTÉ Radio 1 on Saturday mornings from 1989 until 1991. Pauline McLynn and Owen Roe participated as performers.The half-hour show lampooned...
. Different sketches had him engaged in apparent inane and ridiculous arguments. They ranged from his criticism of Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
for not being a real nun to his attack on the week's weather.
Dunphy's hyperbole
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally....
is also parodied
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
on RTÉ's Après Match
Après Match
Après Match is an Irish comedy show normally screened after competitive Irish soccer matches on RTÉ. It is performed by Barry Murphy, Risteárd Cooper and Gary Cooke. It grew out of Barry Murphy and Risteárd Cooper's Frank's Euro Ting sketches which first enlivened RTÉ's coverage of Euro '96 for...
show lampooning celebrities, footballers and broadcasters.
Personal life
Today, Dunphy generally resides at his home near RanelaghRanelagh
Ranelagh is a residential area and urban village on the south side of Dublin, Ireland. It is in the postal district of Dublin 6. It is in the local government electoral area of Rathmines and the Dáil Constituency of Dublin South-East.-History:...
village in Dublin. He also owns a holiday home in Deauville
Deauville
Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
Dunphy married his partner of 18 years RTÉ
RTE
RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
Commissioning Editor Jane Gogan, at the Unitarian Church on St Stephen's Green on 24 September 2009.
External links
- Eamo Dunphy Google Video - Eamon's Outburst
- Dunphy after Liverpool Barcelona game YouTube - Video of Dunphy's outburst against Liverpool after knocking Barcelona out of Champions League, March 2007