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Sammy Heenan was speaking after Republic of Ireland players appeared to sing a pro-IRA chant following their Women’s World Cup play-off victory over Scotland.

Video footage circulated on social media after Tuesday night’s 1-0 victory at Hampden Park of the players singing the chant in the dressing room.

In 1985 Sammy was a 12-year-old boy asleep in bed on the family’s remote farm near Castlewellan when he was awoken by the sounds of his father William's “haunting and dying screams”.

His father had been doing his early morning rounds on the farm when the IRA forced him to his knees and shot him twice in the head.

The IRA claimed he was a member of the RUC, but in fact he was actually a digger driver for the Department of the Environment. His father was a 52-year-old widower, so the murder left the boy an orphan.

Speaking to the News Letter about the IRA chanting this week, he told the News Letter: "As a society we are supposed to be in a new dispensation of inclusivity and respect between communities on these islands.

"So why is there now this incessant glorification within young nationalism to eulogise the activities of a murdering terrorist organisation like the IRA?

"If these young ladies who were singing this song and they viewed the image that I encountered that morning of our dad lying dead at our home covered in blood after he had been forced to his knees and shot twice in the head, they would realise the consequences of their singing.

"This organisation, the Provisional IRA, visited misery and bloodshed across both the Protestant and Roman Catholic communities on both sides of the border.

"The enormity and symbolism of this team singing this song are huge and I honestly believe severe sanctions need to be imposed to prevent these type of activities from happening again - by sending a signal about how unacceptable this is."

He did not think their apology was adequate.

"I think these people need to meet victims, they need education and they need awareness."

He added: "I would challenge the Maintained Education system, the GAA, and evidently other sporting bodies in southern Ireland to step up to the level that is required to eradicate this systemic glorification of terrorism which now appears to be so prevalant amongs many nationalist youth. It is not where we were supposed to be as a society in 2022."

Mr Heenan also drew comparison with the treatment of Kilmarnock striker Kyle Lafferty. He could face a 10-match ban after he admitted letting himself and his club down over his use of sectarian language recently.

The 35-year-old Northern Ireland international has received a club fine after a video appeared on social media. He also faces a Scottish FA hearing on 20 October.

“Kyle Lafferty also had to go through training on sectarianism,” Sammy said. “These women need to face the same process. We need to see equity.”

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