GAA’s legal woes continue as cases are adjourned

THE GAA’s legal wrangles in Dublin and Donegal deepened yesterday after court cases brought by clubs from both counties, Na Fianna and St Eunan’s, were adjourned.

Na Fianna’s appeal to be reinstated in the Dublin Football Championship was adjourned until Thursday. The Glasnevin club appealed after they were thrown out of the championship for playing six substitutes in their quarter-final win over Raheny last weekend. The Dublin County Board want to play the final this weekend, but the semi-final between Raheny and UCD, due to be played yesterday, was halted by a High Court injunction last week.

Letterkenny team St Eunan’s bid to try to stop the Donegal SFC semi-finals from going ahead has also been adjourned. St Eunan’s beat Ardara in the first round, but Ardara objected to Eddie Brennan’s participation in the match, claiming the Sligo footballer was not properly registered. Dublin GAA chiefs fear a major financial backlash if an end to the Na Fianna dispute is not reached by Thursday’s High Court hearing. Apart from the income lost from gate receipts at major provincial games, the legal costs will also mount up for both sides as the case continues. The county board were meeting late last night in a bid to resolve the crux It is understood the adjournment came on foot of an affidavit served by Na Fianna which the county board and its legal team needed more time to consider.

Hope is still alive, however, that the situation can be sorted out internally though that appears unlikely at this stage.

Na Fianna are understood to have former Down All-Ireland winning captain Joe Lennon in their ranks to provide evidence in their favour. Lennon is a highly-regarded viewer of the rule-book t is looking more than likely that Dublin won’t have a representative in place for their Leinster SFC clash with Rathnew of Wicklow on November 17. Na Fianna took out an injunction to block last Saturday’s county semi-final tie between UCD and Raheny going ahead. Now There is only one weekend left to play off the semi-final between UCD and Raheny with the winners due to meet St Vincent’s in the final. A further worry for the county board is the rumour emanating from at least one club left in the championship that it would consider not fulfilling any fixture that involved Na Fianna should they be reinstated in the championship.

Dublin County Board chairman John Bailey last night dismissed such speculation.

“The county board would obviously be strongly against any action like that being taken. I don’t think it would ever happen anyway,” he said.

“It’s the clubs that appoint the county board and I don’t think they’d go against the wishes of the county board. I also think that players would have too much respect for the association to go down that road.”