John Giles, centre, with children from St Patrick’s GNS and BNS in Ringsend, Dublin, at the launch of the Walk of Dreams in 2012. The foundation bearing his name has raised hundreds of thousands for Irish clubs

John Giles has said he was in “shock” after discovering that Con Martin, a former friend, was paid €500,000 by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) when it acquired the “concept” of the John Giles Foundation.

Last August The Sunday Times revealed that Martin, a former League of Ireland player, was paid €300,000 by the FAI in 60 tranches of €5,000 over five years. It can now be revealed that the football association also paid Martin a lump sum of €200,000 as part of a contract agreed in September 2008.

That contract stated that Martin was being paid for devising the idea of the John Giles Foundation and a collective kit purchasing plan.

A trust agreement establishing the John Giles Foundation was signed by Giles;