Kerry match assault referee says he will not quit

THE referee at the centre of a shameful assault at the end of a Kerry SHC semi-final on Sunday has vowed not to retire from refereeing.

Gearoid O’Regan, who today returned to his teaching post at Banagher CS in Offaly, received injuries to his face and hip when attacked by a player after the clash between Kilmoyley and Ballyduff.

Mr O’Regan has refused to discuss the specific incidents of the case as they are being dealt with by the Kerry County Board. But he confirmed yesterday that he would continue in his role as a match official.

“I have no intention of quitting as I love refereeing and we will see how I feel over the next few weeks,” he said.

“My ear is cut and is sore, my face got some rough treatment and my hip is bruised from being kicked but I am feeling better today but the shock of it all is still affecting me.

“I am looking forward to returning to coaching the U-14s up in Banagher and I have got great support from all the staff at the school.”

The County Board in Kerry have been fantastic and they have been ringing to see that I am okay.

“I have not heard from Ballyduff since though I did get a visit from their midfielder, Pa O’Rourke, whom I had sent off, expressing his regret for what had happened. This was in the changing room after the assaults and I appreciated it greatly.

“That was my third time refereeing Ballyduff in the Championship this season and I had no problems on the two previous occasions when they first drew with Causeway in the quarter-final and then beat them in a replay, and both sides are actually from the same parish.

Kerry GAA chairman Sean Walsh added: “We will be meeting the officers of the Ballyduff club on Thursday night and starting from there, and within two to three weeks I hope to have the matter brought to a conclusion.

“Anybody involved in what we saw last Sunday will be brought in and will be spoken to.

“It is unlikely that gardaí will be involved by us at the moment, unless the referee involves them in his ownprivate capacity in a civil case. As an organisation that has means at itsdisposal to deal with such matters, we will be dealing with this affair in-house, and we will not be involving the gardaí.

“We will not be calling the gardaí as we will feel we can deal with it within our own rules.”

Mr Walsh, however, did praise the Ballyduff trainer John Bunyan, “who did more than anyone to quell the situation and while we had four stewards there, they had no chance against 50 odd people.”