IT WILL come as little surprise to fans of ‘Father Ted’ that its late star, Dermot Morgan, had a significant interest in both football and religion.
It was one of several projects that the late comedian and actor was working on at the time of his death at the age of 45 on 28 February 1998. On that occasion, McQuaid had been consulted by the association, who acceded to his demands, but three years later, no such courtesy was afforded to the Archbishop, and it was only shortly before the fixture was due to take place that he learned about it.
As History Ireland notes: “Pavelitch and the Ustase are estimated to have murdered up to 30,000 Jews, 29,000 Gypsies and between 300,000 and 600,000 Serbs. In May 1945 Pavelitch fled to Austria; after a few months he moved on to Rome, where he was hidden by members of the Catholic Church. Six months later Vatican operatives smuggled him into Argentina, where he revived the Ustase movement.
A vote was held and the association ultimately doubled down. Their reasoning was the classic argument that sport and politics should be kept separate and that the football team should not be held accountable for its government’s policies. It’s easy to see why the story appealed to Morgan. While he was just three years of age when the match in question took place, the Catholic Church’s influence on Irish society remained strong as he was growing up in the 1960s and ’70s.In a 2018 piece for The Irish Times, his son Donnchadh Morgan wrote: “He was punished for being different. The Christian Brothers beat him six ways from Sunday.
“He was a former president of the ASTI, a guy called Pierce Purcell, who cycled to Dublin with his dad, who was a guard. “More so than rugby, association football is itself [perceived as] somehow suspect. And that would have also appealed to him. The ‘fuck you,’ 22,000 people turned up. Yet ’Miracle of the Magyars’ was far more than a mere vague idea. In fact, it seemed close to fruition.
“I suppose people will have more of a connection with [Ferenc] Puskas turning up to Dublin than whoever was playing for Yugoslavia,” Donnchadh says. “It was an era that he was fascinated with and if he could corner somebody to talk about it who had experienced these things, he was very excited to do that.”DIFFERENTLY Get closer to the stories that matter with exclusive analysis, insight and debate in The42 Membership.The comedian Mel Smith was in talks to star in Morgan's football sitcom. Source: Alamy Stock Photo
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