GAA must act on violence, player warns after assault trial

A former Mayo player who had his nose broken by an opponent minutes after a club championship match has called on players, clubs and GAA officials to tackle the problem of violence in the GAA.

Kiltimagh’s Darragh Sloyan (27) was shaking hands with players from the Davitts club after their Mayo IFC clash in Ballindine on June 12, 2011 when Davitts’ player James Cummins punched him in the face, leaving him with a broken nose which required two operations to correct. Sloyan missed 18 weeks of work due to the assault.

The two exchanged words during the game, when Cummins was sent off.

Cummins pleaded guilty to assault causing harm and after coming up with €6,000 in compensation, he received the benefit of the Probation Act at Friday’s sitting of Castlebar District Court.

There are at least three other cases being investigated by gardaí from alleged GAA assaults in Mayo this summer. Sloyan said: “People seem to forget that it is meant to be about football and is a game — we all have to work in the morning.

“For a fella to come up and hit you like that is not acceptable.”

And Sloyan, who played minor, U21 and senior football for the county, lashed out at the ‘what happens on the field stays on the field’ culture in the GAA.

“The way it tends to happen in the GAA is the person who was attacked often seeks revenge in the next game between the teams.

“It can be (deemed) acceptable to ‘do’ him again in return. It’s GAA justice — ‘we’ll get him again’.

“The original victim then is seen as a bollocks for pursuing it through the courts.”

Sloyan also feels there is ‘a culture of silence’ in the GAA towards such incidents.

“I spoke to a county board official and I was told he (Cummins) got a four-week suspension for what happened during the game but that what happened after the game was, essentially, not their problem.

“People were unwilling to come forward and support me because there is a culture of silence in the GAA for such matters.

“That has to stop or these cases will keep on happening.

“I was wary about going to the gardaí but I felt I was hung out to dry by the GAA as a collective and I don’t regret doing so now.

“Everyone involved in the GAA needs to realise that acts like this are assaults and should not be tolerated,” said Sloyan.

Mayo County Board secretary Kevin O’Toole said that “clubs and players and the GAA need to take a look at what happens on the field and on the sideline” but that they could not deal with a case where no corroborating witnesses would come forward, like was the case here.