‘Disrespected’Armagh to maintain media ban
The Ulster county’s senior football panel and management have refused to cooperate with the vast majority of media outlets for most of the summer, with coverage of ‘Paradegate’ believed to be the crux of the issue.
Manager Paul Grimley took issue with the reaction to events prior to the Ulster Championship opener against Cavan last May at the Athletic Grounds when, after the pre-match scuffle, five players were handed one-match bans.
Three of those were directed at Armagh players and forced them to miss the resulting draw with Monaghan, but Grimley was incensed by what he claimed was the influence of the media and two other high-profile administrators.
Grimley criticised what he termed to be “hysterical reporting” which he described as “laughable” and said the media, along with GAA president Liam O’Neill and director general Paraic Duffy, influenced the deliberations of the disciplinary authorities.
O’Neill rejected that assertion earlier this week, but there was evidence of a pre-existing displeasure with the media in Grimley’s comments immediately after the Cavan game and McDonnell’s latest input only backs that up.
Armagh will continue to speak to only a selected few outlets while blacklisting the vast majority for the rest of the season.
“People would need to retrace their steps very accurately,” McDonnell told the Gaelic Life newspaper ahead of tomorrow’s All-Ireland qualifier against Meath at Croke Park.
“Respect and good manners are not difficult qualities to carry. We would strongly feel that we have been disrespected and dismissed and portrayed inaccurately.
“A false impression is created and sought to be created, and not just during this year, but during previous years.
“And, to that end, until resolution is achieved there will be a coolness and, indeed, an absolute and total failure to communicate with certain elements of the media.”
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