John Fogarty: Is GAA losing its command of order?

STAYING QUIET: Albeit belatedly, GAA president Larry McCarthy, left, has been vocal on the matter of violence towards game participants but GAA director general Tom Ryan has been astonishingly quiet. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

“If you think about it, the biggest asset we would have is reputation. We have been trying to do as best we can over the last while and avoiding mis-steps so we don’t put anyone at risk or damage the standing of any club or any member, or the organisation as a whole.” 

The words of GAA director general Tom Ryan in this newspaper in May 2020 as the GAA was beginning to deal with the financial fall-out from the pandemic.

As the organisation has struggled to get on top of violence shown towards game participants, especially referees, these last few months, that asset Ryan speaks of has itself come under assault.

Not that the actions of Croke Park would make you believe they are dealing with a crisis, though. Albeit belatedly, GAA president Larry McCarthy has been vocal on the matter but Ryan has been astonishingly quiet.

Not to condemn a man whose hand was remarkably steady throughout Covid-19 but his predecessor Páraic Duffy would have been front and centre in responding to the litany of viciousness shown in the likes of Wexford, Mayo and this past weekend Dublin. As strident as he was in defending the GAA particularly against the “Grab All Association” claims, Duffy was never slow to acknowledge wrongdoing.

By this stage, he would have outlined a suite of measures to combat “this corrosive assault on civility”, the Bob Costas quote used by McCarthy to articulate the breakdown. Instead, it’s Wexford who in response to a second assault on a referee in their county, put forward a list of proposals to protect match officials and help curb the violence.

At the same time, Wexford must now accept that they have an inherent disciplinary problem in light of a third club of theirs, Oulart-The-Ballagh, becoming embroiled in unacceptable behaviour. Dublin’s Naomh Barróg have a case to answer too for what happened in Parnell Park two days ago but the common denominator in these flashpoints is Wexford.

From his time as Games Administration Committee chairman in the early 2000s to 2018 when he finished up as director general, Duffy was rarely, if at all, soft on violence. A trawl through his comments down through the years illustrates that as much as it underlines the GAA hasn’t learned much in how it deals with the subject.

2012: “All we can do is to ensure issues around our grounds, around people on the pitch, around things we can control ourselves, we have got to look at that. Clearly, if there are lessons to be learned around that we have to take them on board. What we have to do is deal with our own rules and look at the issue of security around playing pitches, around numbers on the sideline and so on. That is the question we have to address.” 

2013: "I believe we should make more use of the rule which allows disciplinary committees to have due regard for the gravity of the infraction and to impose a penalty of up to 96 weeks or, in exceptionally serious cases, debarment from playing."

2016: “While a county may be pleased at avoiding the consequences of ill-disciplined behaviour, the reputation of the GAA suffers on such occasions. We have all witnessed how elite professional sport has lost much of its integrity through a loss of genuine sporting values. Codes of silence and cover-ups reminds us that Gaelic games are not immune to such damage.” 

Fail to nail the perpetrators and fall short of stopping these brawls and attacks and the GAA’s authority will diminish even further. Recent comments from leading officials wouldn’t fill you with too much confidence. Pushed by Bryan Dobson on RTÉ Radio 1 last month, McCarthy would not commit to lifetime bans in the “most egregious of incidents”. 

“I don’t think so – 96 weeks is a long time in any person’s life and then we have to allow for the fact that you can be rehabilitated,” he replied.

On Sunday, Leinster chairman and GAA presidential candidate Pat Teehan spoke of strong sanctions and maintained what happened in Parnell Park was an isolated incident. He clarified that it was such in the context of the multitude of games the GAA organises. He paradoxically added that the province had to be “harsh” and “fair” in their assessment of those scenes in Donnycarney.

Teehan seems intent on treating this latest incident seriously but now is not the time for mixed messages. Last month, five Leeds United supporters were banned from Elland Road for life and received football banning orders ranging from three to five years arising from missiles being thrown at a Premier League game in February. They were accompanied by a number of criminal charges.

The GAA is past the point of believing they are above dolling out such judgements. If they can’t find the punishment to fit the crime, they can’t expect to command order.

Cliffords have earned a break

Not that they are giving out about their hectic schedules right now but the Clifford brothers will be due a well-earned rest over the Christmas period.

With 30 games to his name already in what is week 46 of the calendar year, David’s load, not to mention that of Paudie who has 28 appearances, will be monitored closely by Kerry football’s head of athletic performance Jason McGahan, you would imagine.

And there is a distinct possibility they could add several more, including two in Fossa’s Munster junior championship campaign beginning with a Castlemahon semi-final date on Saturday week and perhaps another three in the O’Donoghue Cup (East Kerry), which starts against Dr Crokes this Saturday.

Asked in May about the prospect of playing long into the year, Paudie replied: “I hope so. I suppose it all depends if we go far with the club or the district, we mightn’t have much time. But that’s a good complaint then. So yeah, I’d be hoping that we don’t have too much of a break.” 

And yet they could be the victims of what their former Kerry manager Peter Keane warned about when the split season was introduced. “I think the real meat in the sandwich is your inter-county player,” he said in October 2020. “If you are going flat out from January to July or January to June with club, who is the main man there? The county player.

“You then go from June/July to October/November with your inter-county, and who’s in the middle of that, your county player. So what happens then? He gets flahed.” 

To defend their All-Ireland title next year, Kerry will have at least eight SFC matches and at most nine in contrast to five this past season. Tapering the appearances of their leading men in the Allianz Football League may be a requirement if Kerry are to complete back-to-back successes for the first time since 2007.

Just how many wait for medals?

News that Westmeath’s 2008 Division 2 winning side will only receive their medals at a ceremony next month reminded Armagh legend Stevie McDonnell of the wait he and the Ulster team have had for their interprovincial final success in 2007.

“We got sweet FA for it,” he recalls of the win over Munster. “They took the final to Croke Park that year and then failed to give the players their just rewards. What was the point? When the authorities don’t take the game as serious as the players, you have a problem. I don’t know if we’ll ever get those medals but it probably highlights just how little the GAA really thought of the competition.” 

There are many stories recounting similar situations. For some reason, Cork’s senior hurlers were without medals for at least seven years after their Munster success in 2006. Mick O’Dwyer was never given one for his involvement in Kerry’s 1954 All-Ireland minor success despite scoring 1-6 in the Munster semi-final that year.

Mike Hassett infamously didn’t receive one for Kerry’s 1997 All-Ireland SFC success and there were many before him who lost out due to the GAA’s outdated rule insisting only 21 players on the matchday panel could receive the awards.

Westmeath’s team under Tomás Ó Flatharta will be honoured along with the current Tailteann Cup winning side in the Mullingar Park Hotel on December 2. New manager Dessie Dolan and coach John Keane will be among those receiving their accolades 14 years later.

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