Shane Ross is at it again.
During his tenure as Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Ross has made his reputation as someone who is not overly preoccupied with the finer details of Irish athletes. Like their names.
Recently, he made the headlines during Katie Taylor’s homecoming when he was attached to the undisputed world lightweight champion at the hip, appearing at strange angles to make sure no photo of the moment existed without his presence.
It appears that Ross must still have Taylor on the brain, as he misidentified another talented Irish boxer – Kellie Harrington – this afternoon.
Behind every Great Achievement is an even Greater Shane Ross… pic.twitter.com/ExHK7sIRXJ
— JOE.ie (@JOEdotie) June 4, 2019
Harrington has landed back in Ireland after a hand injury forced her to pull out of the European <60kg final at the European Games. Harrington won a silver medal after defeating her semi-final opponent, but sadly could not continue any further.
Speaking at the Team Ireland homecoming, Minister Ross said: “Kellie Harrington, who I insist on thinking of as a gold medal winner… We all know that Katie will come back as strong as ever.”
As soon as he said it, video footage appears to show Harrington unable to control her laughter.
It’s far from the first time this has happened to Ross. In tweets, he has mixed up rugby players Dave and Rob Kearney – and referred to Irish runner Thomas Barr as Thomas Barry.
Oops! Wrong Kearney!! Last tweet said pic was Sexton and Dave , but it’s Rob. Kearney replied “Thanks Leo” ! Touché . Congrats again. pic.twitter.com/H6elYQEIE5
— Shane Ross (@Ross_Shane1) March 18, 2018
Worst of all, he last year misidentified Irish rower Sanita Pušpure as “Dominant Purspure” because an RTÉ article had used the adjective “dominant” to refer to Pušpure’s gold-medal performance.
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