Gathering naysayers urged to cut the criticism

The man behind a major sports event in Cork for The Gathering hit out at Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary last night, pleading with him to “cut out the negative bullshit” about the initiative.

James O’Reilly, chairman of the World Mini Games, set to take place in Cork next August, urged O’Leary to “to cough up or shut up”. He also urged Tourism Minister Leo Varadkar not to engage in any more spats with the airline chief.

Mr O’Reilly spoke out yesterday after Mr O’Leary dubbed the Government initiative as “The Grabbing”.