No jail for Dublin GAA star Diarmuid Connolly for ‘unprovoked’ New Year’s Eve assaults

The judge said: 'I'll take it as an isolated incident but this behaviour cannot be tolerated.'

Judge Finan asked if Diarmuid Connolly (pictured) understood the seriousness of the case having delayed complying with a €2,000 compensation payment by four weeks and leaving the court 'waiting' for him last time. Picture: IrishPhotoDesk.ie

Former Dublin GAA star Diarmuid Connolly has been spared a custodial sentence and an assault conviction for punching two men and dragging one of them along the ground in an "unprovoked" New Year's Eve attack.

Connolly, 36, with an address at Collinswood in Beaumont, admitted assaulting Stephen Grimes and Stephen Kiely at Shantalla Road in Santry on December 31, 2022.