Clare chief slams Sunday Game for Quinn remarks

CLARE secretary Pat Fitzgerald has launched a stinging criticism of RTÉ’s The Sunday Game for having “pilloried and publicly castigated” Gerry Quinn earlier this year.

Kilkenny’s Henry Shefflin suffered a severe facial injury following a tussle with Quinn in the Guinness All-Ireland SHC quarter-final.

Fitzgerald accepts that the Clare player inflicted the injury but stressed that television footage “didn’t show there was any malicious intent.”

The Clare official claimed that “objectivity went out the window” in the subsequent trial by media which developed.

“Analysts Tomás Mulcahy and Larry O’Gorman pilloried and publicly castigated the Clare player. Objectivity went out the window. There was no presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

“The debate was far from fair and balance. It was one-sided and they came down heavily in favour of the Games Administration Committee initiating their own investigation.

“I believe that the comments of both former hurlers on the RTÉ panel of analysts were those of two people who had already found Gerry Quinn guilty and were further designed to put pressure on the GAC to launch an investigation. And they got what they wanted, if not the result they sought. But the trial didn’t end there. It continued on Sportscall on the following Monday evening and on the Joe Duffy show the day after. One wonders would the debate have been so intense if it happened to a player of a lesser profile than Henry Shefflin.”

Fitzgerald also had some harsh words for the GAC, who ultimately found Quinn to be innocent.

“Indeed, Gerry Quinn hasn’t many friends on the GAC. When Clare reached the 2002 All-Ireland final Quinn had his hand broken in an off-the-ball incident in the Waterford match. The dogs on the street knew the culprit. Quinn was asked to name and shame the culprit when brought before the GAC but refused.

“Their investigation ended there - the culprit walked off scot-free.

“Thankfully, Quinn did, too, when the GAC concluded their own investigation. In fairness, they couldn’t but arrive at the decision they did.

“There wasn’t a shred of evidence that Quinn’s action was deliberate. In my opinion, selectivity should be replaced with objectivity and consistency.

“Fair play is what every player is entitled to on an off the field. It’s the least they should get.”