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Eamon Dunphy was almost moved to tears as he recalled the death of a childhood friend who introduced him to two of the most important things in his life.
The controversial commentator and former soccer player appeared on Tommy Tiernan’s show tonight, where he told the host about his childhood friend Dessie Toal, who introduced him to soccer and cigarettes at the age of eight while growing up in Drumcondra.
He said: “I remember very well the people who were fundamental to my life.
“Dessie Toal was the guy who introduced me to two things, soccer and cigarettes, when I was eight years old.
“Without him, and he was the oldest guy in the street gang that I hooked on, I remember him fondly and spoke at his funeral mass.”
The former Milwall star was interrupted when tears swelled in her eyes, but she smiled again when she told Tiernan her great admiration for her older friend, who was also the only person who could enchant Dunphy’s mother.
“He [Dessie] it was like a kid out of a movie, “he said.
“He was about three or four years older than most of us and he was a great guy.
“He was a great footballer, he was a heroic figure. My mother was a beautiful woman and she used to worry when she dated these guys because they were a little older than me.”
“The only guy who could appease her was a guy named Dessie Toal, ‘Don’t worry Mrs. Dunphy, I’ll take care of him.’
Eamon added that he is still “deeply moved” at the thought of his deceased childhood friend.
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