There is no sign of a reconciliation in the "pundit partnership" of Mr Eamon Dunphy and Mr John Giles who feature on RTÉ television's The Premiership.
The friendship between the two panellists had been "terminated" Mr Dunphy said in a radio interview yesterday and he offered little hope of a reconciliation when he added "we won't be sitting down for a pint".
Mr Dunphy was speaking on the Gerry Ryan Show on 2FM yesterday. He said he didn't know whether he and Mr Giles could continue appearing together as panellists on soccer analysis show The Premiership, which returned to screens last Saturday following the summer break.
There was little regret in Mr Dunphy's tone when he said the end of their friendship was "not a tragedy". Mr Giles, he said, was a very professional man. "John is a very decent man and has been a good friend a long time," but, he said, he would not miss him as a friend.
The two soccer experts have been at loggerheads since May, when Mr Giles supported the decision of Ireland soccer manager Mick McCarthy to send Roy Keane home from the World Cup. Relations between the two deteriorated further following the publication of Roy Keane's autobiography, ghost written by Mr Dunphy.
In another recent interview, Mr Dunphy accused Mr Giles of breaking the leg of John Fitzpatrick during a match when Mr Giles played for Leeds United. Mr Giles has denied the charge.
There was little banter between the two during the The Premiership on Saturday night. Mr Giles had already announced that he was quitting as a contributor to Mr Dunphy's programme The Last Word on Today FM.
In a statement RTÉ said it was "not aware of any difficulty" of having both panellists on The Premiership adding they "are contracted to work on The Premiership and we hope that that relationship will continue".
