Bertie Ahern stood ready to intervene in Saipan controversy at urging of Tommie Gorman

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern checking out a portrait of Roy Keane in the Crawford Art Gallery, Cork, in 2005. File picture Gerard McCarthy

Former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern stood ready to intervene in the 2002 Saipan controversy at the urging of RTÉ journalist Tommie Gorman.

Speaking to Paul Hosford on the Irish Examiner's Mick Clifford Podcast, Mr Ahern paid tribute to the journalist who died this week and said that Mr Gorman's famous interview with Roy Keane in the wake of his bust up with Mick McCarthy ahead of the 2002 World Cup almost served as the beginning of a mediated settlement.