Tougher laws needed in face of ‘new attitude’

THE GAA will continue to experience difficulty in penalising indiscipline as long as their rules are open to legal challenge and people avail of “every possible procedure and loophole” to escape punishment.

The stark warning was given by Director-General Liam Mulvihill, yesterday, when he called for a crusade to stamp out the practice of “hiding and protecting the wrongdoers.”

Expressing a view that it may be a waste of time to continue with the Central Appeals Committee, because appeals invariably ended up with the Disputes Resolution Authority (DRA), Mr Mulvihill revealed that the appeals arising out of the Omagh suspensions had succeeded because the wrong procedure was used in seeking clarification from the referee.