Keith Duffy has revealed that he was “sick to his stomach” following his row with the Irish Autism Action – which he worked with for 14 years.
The Boyzlife star spoke out after the charity’s new CEO, Brian Murnane, allegedly claimed at an Irish Autism Mammies meeting that while Keith helped raise €8million for the Irish Autism Action, it cost €7million to raise.
“When I read that, I thought it was a direct insult to me, it was like a knife to my back, I was devastated, I was sick to my stomach, I actually had a panic attack.
“And I was hyperventilating because I just could not believe that there is somebody in this world that would make such a flippant comment,” Â he revealed on The Anton Savage Show on Today FM.
Sick: Keith couldn’t believe the comments | VIPIRELAND.COM
“Because you can’t just say ‘Sorry, it was a flippant comment’ – this comment can be taken up and read differently by every different person that reads it.
“Every single member of my family, my friends, the people I’ve met in the business that I’ve asked and campaigned with to try and get them to support me either physically, mentally or financially, all these people that have stood by me and helped me and supported me.
“I felt that if they read this they were going to feel like I had let them down,” he expplained.
“I’ve done absolutely nothing wrong. I cut my holidays short to make sure I was there for events for Irish Autism Action.
“I was dedicated. I’ve spent my life with it, I’ve turned down career opportunities to make sure that I wasn’t diluting what I was trying to achieve. I have hand on heart worked my arse off for years to support other families like mine.
Dedicated: Keith has worked for years with the charity | VIPIRELAND.COM
“I gave my family’s private story out to try and help other families, like my own, and against my family’s better wishes at the time, my family wanted to deal with our problems ourselves, we wanted to try and do what we could for my daughter.
“And I probably could have tried my best to help my daughter myself without ever telling anybody, but I felt with all the doors that were closed in my face initially when I needed a diagnosis for my daughter.
“I felt that being well-known I could utilise my fame and my familiar face to try and help those families that didn’t have the familiar face that I have, to try and support the other parents that are going through the heartache and pain that we were going through, and that was the reason I got involved in the first place.”
Fame: Keith used his popularity for good | VIPIRELAND.COM
Despite what happened to Keith, the singer said he doesn’t “regret” being apart of the charity.
“The state has let down the families in this country with autistic children, the state has let them down, Irish Autism Action was put together by parents with the intentions to provide the services that were so badly needed for all the children in this country and i believe Irish Autism Action did a fantastic job for years.
“I have not heard from then at all, I made an attempt to contact Brian Murnane himself but he didn’t get back to me.
“It’s not about me, yes I’ve been very insulted and hurt, people can take anything they want from his flippant statement, effectively people can think that I was paid 7 million to make 8 million for the charity.
“I never made a penny and that statement is absolutely ridiculous,” he added.
Keith is now focusing on his own charity keithduffyfoundation.ie, where he will be supporting a number of charities.
