A member of the GAA’s Disputes Resolution Authority panel that cleared Dublin star Diarmuid Connolly to play in the All-Ireland semi-final replay has broken ranks and issued his own rebuttal of the decision.

IF IT wasn’t so serious the irony would be delicious. Two legal eagles shooting down a ban, which had been upheld by the GAA’s three main disciplinary arms, largely on the basis that an All-Ireland semi-final means more than most games.

The publication of the Disputes Resolution Authority’s decision to rescind Diarmuid Connolly’s red card earlier this month has laid bare a major rift between the tribunal panel which oversaw the case.