Padraig Harrington has compared Saudi Arabia getting blamed for 9/11 with how the Irish people and government were blamed for the IRA's atrocities.
Appearing on RTE's Liveline to discuss the controversial deal between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, Harrington drew comparisons with the feeling towards Saudi Arabia and their government's alleged involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, to how people viewed Ireland's relationship to the IRA back in the 1990's.
Harrington claims that Irish people were seen as supporters of the IRA and that other countries thought the Irish government supported the IRA even though that wasn't the truth.
Harrington brings up the fact that the deal was brokered by Jimmy Dunne, a man who lost friends and co-workers in the 2001 attack, and mentioned how Dunne claimed that 'terrorists blew up the Twin Towers.'
"Jimmy Dunne who did this deal, he lost two floors in the twin towers. He lost his friends and the workforce in 9/11," Harrington told Joe Duffy on Liveline this afternoon.
"Now I don't know enough about this, he has come out and said that terrorists blew up the Twin Towers. So he should know.
"Now, I really have a problem with this because I was in England in the early 90's, and continuously, the gutter press in Britain intermingled Ireland, the Irish government, Irish people and the IRA to blame on the atrocities.
"They made it feel like the Irish people were to blame for the IRA bombings in the UK.
"Now, I know about Ireland - I don't know enough about Saudi Arabia - I can only take Jimmy Dunne's position because he should know.
"But blaming Saudi Arabia and their government seems very much like blaming Ireland for not doing enough to stop the IRA.
"Maybe Saudi Arabia took their eye off the ball. They could never have foreseen what was going to happen.
"If Jimmy Dunne is saying that he doesn't believe the Saudi Arabian government had anything to do with that and that it was Osama Bin Laden and his cohort from Saudi Arabia, that just like how the IRA were Irish people but didn't have the support from the Irish government or Irish people."
Duffy brought up Dunne's comments which he made in a golf channel interview earlier this week were he said "If I can find someone who was unequivocally involved in the 9/11 massacre, I would kill them myself.
READ NEXT:
John Kiely outlines Limerick path to glory against Clare in Munster final
PGA Tour, DP World Tour and LIV Golf agree to merge commercial operations in shock move
Irish players regularly won Leagues and Cups in the '80s - so why are we always missing out now?
Roy Keane left red-faced over Premier League predictions as only one selection comes in
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
