Judge warns Hayes sentence will be imposed if hurler doesn't comply with community service

Kyle Hayes appears at Limerick Circuit Court on Monday, where it was confirmed he will carry out 180 hours of community service

Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes appeared in court on Monday, where it was confirmed he is to carry out 180 hours of community service instead of spending three months in jail.

However, the judge warned Hayes he would be going to prison if he committed further criminal offences.

Last April, Judge Dara Hayes indicated he would impose the community service order in lieu of Hayes serving three months of an 18-month suspended jail sentence.

The suspended jail term was imposed on the Limerick hurler after a jury convicted him on two counts of committing violent disorder inside and outside the Icon nightclub, Limerick, in 2019 — charges he denied at a 2023 trial.

On Monday, the judge reminded Hayes that all of the relevant legal “obligations and requirements” on the hurler had been “explained” to him. 

“Non-compliance” with the order would see the All-Star hurler going to jail, the judge said.

Addressing Hayes, the judge said: “If there is non-compliance, you will be brought back before the court and the [three-month] sentence will be imposed.” 

Hayes replied: “Yes, judge.” 

Second conviction

The judge said he would make “no order” on the hurler’s second conviction for violent disorder in respect of the same night at the nightclub in 2019.

The terms of the judgement order, including where and when Hayes will be starting his community service, were not dislocated in court.

Judge Hayes said the hurler must complete the community service order within 12 months from Monday.

Hayes's barrister, senior counsel Brian McInerney, confirmed to the court that the probation service had deemed the hurler suitable for community service in lieu of the jail sentence.

“A suitable service has been selected, and all other matters have been satisfied,” Mr McInerney told the court.

Hayes, aged 26, of Ballyahsea, Kildimo, Co Limerick, appeared as part of long-standing “Section 99 re-entry” proceedings.

Dangerous driving

The hearing was initially triggered after Hayes engaged in dangerous driving at Mallow, Co Cork, four months after the violent disorder concurrent suspended sentences of 18 months and two years were imposed on him in March 2024.

On July 14, 2024, Hayes was recorded by a garda overtaking nine cars in a row on a stretch of the N20 Cork- Limerick dual carriageway whilst driving 55km/h above the 100km/h speed limit.

He subsequently lost an appeal against the driving conviction on March 12, 2025, for which he was given a two-year driving ban and fined €250.

Previously summarising the events from the Icon nightclub, Judge Hayes said the Limerick hurler was one of two men who “aggressively approached” self-employed carpenter Cillian McCarthy, adding that Hayes was one of a group of four men who later on “attacked” Mr McCarthy inside the nightclub.

The judge said two gardaí gave evidence at Hayes’s trial that they saw the hurler kicking a man lying on the street outside the nightclub on the night, but the judge said there was no evidence before the court that the man on the ground was Cillian McCarthy.

The judge said the trial jury acquitted Hayes of a third charge, assault causing harm to Mr McCarthy. He said Kyle Hayes had paid €10,000 in damages to Mr McCarthy as part of the terms of the suspended sentences imposed on him.