Giles defends ‘walk’ debacle

FOOTBALL legend Johnny Giles was forced to defend his Walk of Dreams charity event after the lack of drinking water, toilet facilities and overpriced food led to claims it turned into a nightmare.

The John Giles Foundation event, which took place on Sunday afternoon, involved up to 20,000 football supporters walking from Dublin city centre to the Aviva stadium to help bring in money for clubs in financial difficulty in Ireland.

However, despite the widespread support it initially received, irate parents were left fuming after a string of mistakes turned the goodwill into anger.

Speaking on RTÉ radio show Liveline, one parent said the lack of drinking water available to participants on a warm day caused children to “almost pass out” as they waited hours, far away from the star guests.

Another said the lack of toilet facilities led to “streams of children relieving themselves” along the route, while others complained of the excessive cost of food at the Aviva.

“The whole operation was just a disaster. It might have been fun for the celebrities at the front, but we couldn’t even hear anything at the back,” one angry caller claimed.

Responding to the criticism, an apologetic Mr Giles said he was just as annoyed about the poor facilities and promised to take action to stop the same situation recurring.

“I’m heavily involved in it, so I don’t want anything to go wrong,” he said.

“This was to be the soccer community on show, to show there’s a great community out there, and the money was to go to the clubs and back to the foundation.

“I would sympathise with people about that [criticism of the event], if things went wrong at the Aviva stadium. And I’m sure they did.”

* [e-mail]