Brennan keen to stamp out disciplinary double standards

GAA President Nickey Brennan wants an end to double standards in the area of discipline.

Describing it as the culture of ‘people speaking out of both corners of their mouth’ he said there was ‘a clear onus’ on officials to accept responsibility when players or members were involved in serious disciplinary incidents.

And he explained that a series of measures he was proposing were a response to a feeling within the Association that ‘enough was enough.’

Adamant that their disciplinary structures were ‘not complicated,’ Brennan said this was borne out by the fact that in 151 out of 168 cases investigated, the proposed penalties were accepted.

He said that problems arose with people availing of ‘technicalities’ to escape punishment — where they could get away ‘with certain things if they took a certain course of action.’ “It’s not critical, but it is annoying and frustrating that individual cases and individuals themselves are challenging the system through legal routes,’’ he said.

As a result, one of six proposals he is putting before the Rule Book Task Force for implementation envisages the Central Appeals Committee in future comprising people with a legal background.

He explained: “There’s no question now that when people go through the Hearings Committee and in more and more cases legal opinion is being sought. The members (of the Appeals committee) are not legal people and we are putting them in a crazy position.

“The thrust of what I was saying was more to do with the whole culture out there. The annoyance I was expressing on behalf of an awful lot of GAA people was at the challenge to some of the cases — and people were not doing the Association a service by what they did.’’

Director-General Liam Mulvihill agrees that there is no ‘simple solution’ to the problem and that getting people to change attitudes towards the process has always been ‘very difficult.’

“I think there is a genuine feeling within the Association that enough is enough and that it is time that this matter was addressed. A few years ago when I made comments in the annual reports they were not taken too seriously. However, I do think there is an acceptance in the Association that there is a problem that must be addressed.’’

The President said he would love to see more people being prepared to put their hand up and admit when they were wrong. In particular, county board officers had a particular responsibility — ‘to the Association at large.’

“Often those counties who take on a case like that are often landed with a case on their doorstep with one of their clubs where they have to do precisely what we are suggesting should be done — and they don’t show the same level of clemency towards players.

“There are double standards here — people talking out of both sides of their mouths! It’s not easy, I have been there myself. A county chairman can come under pressure from a team manager, but you have to stand up and be counted and take the overall good of the Association to heart.’’