The family say they are in fact from Liverpool in England.
A family who have gained international attention after a video of them littering at a beach in New Zealand went viral, claim they aren't Irish.
The group, who Auckland native Krista Curnow (the woman who shot the video) claimed were Irish, became involved in a heated conversation with locals after noticing the mess the family were leaving behind on Takapuna beach on Sunday last.
According to Ms Curnow, the family consisted of 12 people, including a baby and young boy, she noted the adults appeared to be intoxicated after “drinking Coronas and Bundaberg”.
Speaking to the New Zealand Herald Ms Curnow said the tourists surrounded her and shouted abuse while footage from the incident shows a young boy shouting, “I’ll knock your brains out.”
She also claimed that four or five ladies stood around her in a half circle, saying they were going to hit her.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff then branded the group "a bunch of a***holes" and "leeches" and an online petition was signed by over 3,000 locals to “deport the unruly tourists”.
"We are not gypsies, we are not Irish."
However, speaking for the first time since the video went viral the family have clarified they are in fact from Liverpool in England and described themselves as a “respectable family”.
John Johnson told the NZ Herald his eight-year-old nephew (who appears in the video) was attacked near the water, while locals called them “Irish scum”.
"So there's two sides to the story. We did leave a mess and they're saying we're gypsies, we're not gypsies,” he said.
“We're English citizens and we were attacked on that beach, we left and they videoed the mess and then put it on Facebook, you see what I mean?
“People are trying to say we were in Australia, we were never in Australia. We come here for a holiday. We are not gypsies, we are not Irish."
Mr Johnson said his grandfather was the “10th richest man in England” and that they were in New Zealand to visit Hobbiton in Matamata, the movie set from the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies.
“All he did was spoke up for himself and that's it and I think, God, give everybody the right to speak for themselves. At the end of the day it was just absolutely ridiculous what happened.
"In regards to the mess, we are not like that. We are a respectable family. If we go on holiday we treat every country like our own country, no difference. I was brought up in London. I wasn't brought up this way."
A spokesperson for Immigration New Zealand (INZ) confirmed to the local paper that Deportation Liability Notices were issued to four of the individuals.
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