Katie Taylor’s dad, Peter, is devastated over suggestions that he called a hault to celebrations for Team Ireland in the capital.
Peter was quoted as saying there would be no homecoming celebrations without his say-so.
However Peter said that it is dampening the Olympics for him and his gold medal winning daughter Katie.
According to the Irish Independent Taylor said: “The sad thing for me about it is that Katie is after winning . . . we won the gold medal and all the talk is going to be about this.”
Team Ireland’s John Joe Nevin, Katie Taylor, Paddy Barnes and Michael Conlan show off their medals
“It’s a sad affair. It was a great sporting event and for myself and my daughter this has just taken the good out of it now. The nation was on a high and this has taken the good out of it.”
Taylor said he was completely misunderstood when he said: “We heard that people were planning an open top bus tour from Dublin Airport.
“Someone else said there was something similar happening in St. Steven’s Green. All I can say is that nothing will be organised unless it comes through me.”
Plans for a homecoming parade were scrapped over the weekend when Dublin City Council said the athletes would prefer to go home to their families.
However, a homecoming celebration has instead been organised for Wednesday at lunchtime in Dublin City centre.
Bronze medalist Cian O’Connor returned home earlier in the week to prepare for the Dublin Horse Show
Peter Taylor said he wasn’t even in the Olympic Village when the decision was made by the athletes to go straight home after the games.
“The athletes were polled and that, apparently, was their preference,” he said.
“But Katie and I weren’t even in the village when the poll was taken. So I just want to clarify that we had nothing to do with the decision.”
Team Ireland Chef de Mission Sonia O’Sullivan said the athletes want to see their families and have a personal celebration upon their touchdown to Ireland.
“I spoke to members of the team and the general consensus is they just want to go home to be with their families.
Sonia O’Sullivan said the celebrations were poorly organised
“I can understand [the level of public disappointment] but it has to be done correctly. It should have been planned properly by the councils rather than just assumed.
“You can’t make decisions without asking the people who you expect to get on stage what their feelings are,” she said.
RTÉ commentator Bernard Dunne said the whole thing is a “shambles.”
RTÉ commentator and retired boxer Bernard Dunne said the organisation of the event was a “shambles”
