How the GAA's disciplinary system avoided controversy in 2016

It was the end of the world as we knew it. That’s what we were told, anyway. That the reprieve offered to Diarmuid Connolly by two of the three men sitting on the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA) panel had taken a match to the GAA’s disciplinary system.

Never mind that the decision to free Connolly up to play in the 2015 All-Ireland semi-final replay was tenuous and strongly questioned by one of the DRA members Brian Rennick, the simple fact the Dublin forward’s suspension was quashed was regarded in some quarters as a hefty blow for the association.

Meath’s Joe Sheridan tweeted that the GAA “really need to look at themselves after overturning that decision”, although it was the independent DRA that had done so. When the full report was published, one media outlet claimed it “could also help cure insomnia”. When such ignorance was encouraged, there was always going to be misunderstanding of the situation.