Eamon Dunphy reveals his spirituality in Gay Byrne interview

He’s known as the hard-living, sharp-tongued soccer pundit who’s always ready to put the boot in.

But Eamon Dunphy has revealed that behind his public image he’s a very spiritual person who prays to God every night.

The outspoken broadcaster was brought up in a deeply religious and impoverished household in Drumcondra, north Dublin, where attending Mass and saying the Rosary were part of his daily ritual.

But he became disillusioned with the Church when he was 21 and in the early stages of his professional football career in England when a Catholic priest warned him against marrying his first wife, Sandra Tinsley, because she was Protestant.

In a soul-searching new interview, which will be screened on RTÉ tomorrow night, the 68-year-old said that encounter and the subsequent ‘dark wedding’ he was forced to have behind closed doors “was a defining moment in terms of my religious beliefs and my commitment to Catholicism.”

But despite turning his back on organised religion, the father-of-two — who married long-term partner Jane Gogan five years ago — said his enduring faith and belief in a ‘Greater Being’ have continued to play a significant role in his life.

He said: “I pray to God. I pray for my children, my family and for my wife. I’m praying to a caring being. It’s irrational, but that’s what I pray to every night. I have my own prayers, made-up prayers.

“I have a belief that we are not guiding our own fate, but that we are at the mercy of forces that are greater than we are and that you can be fortunate and you can be unfortunate. I think it’s a terrible vanity to think that if you enjoy good fortune that it’s down to you, because it isn’t ultimately.”

The former Ireland international explores his own beliefs and spirituality in an often-emotional interview with Gay Byrne on tomorrow night’s episode of RTE’s The Meaning Of Life.

And holding back the tears, he discusses how his nightly prayers often focus on his nine-year-old grandson Braiden, who was born with hypoplastic left-heart syndrome — a condition which resulted in parts of the left side of his heart not developing properly.

He said: “My daughter, Colette, is a fantastic mother and she copes as many, many mothers do and many families do. But he’s a brilliant boy, he’s got a brilliant mind. He’s nine and he’s an expert on dinosaurs and he has a lovely life, because his mother and father are good to him and you pray for him and pray to give them the strength to be what they are.”

Dunphy admitted that he continues to question some parts of The Gospels, and views Jesus more as an inspirational preacher than a divine being.

But the broadcaster said his own interpretations of the Bible continue to steer him, insisting: “I hope in my behaviour and my day-to-day life I behave like a good person and I think that is what you’re told in the Bible.”

He added: “What I hope happens [when you die] is that you go, you’re judged and that you have to answer for your sins. This is what I’d like to think.

“My fear is that you just go up in flames and it’s bye-bye. But I don’t know. There’s a mystery to life that I think is extraordinary and divine. I think that survives, but where it goes I don’t know.”

* The Meaning of Life with Gay Byrne is on tomorrow at 10.25pm on RTÉ1.