Liam Sheedy says GAA must act on booing of Darragh McCarthy - 'It’s awful for the young fella'

The Tipperary forward was booed when introduced as a second-half sub at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and again during his free-taking routine.

Darragh McCarthy of Tipperary prepares to strike a free during the GAA Hurling All-Ireland Senior Championship final match between Cork and Tipperary at Croke Park in Dublin. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

Liam Sheedy says the GAA must take swift and strong action to stamp out the kind of booing Tipperary forward Darragh McCarthy was subjected to during Saturday's Allianz Hurling League defeat by Cork.

McCarthy was booed when introduced as a second-half sub at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and again when he was taking frees.

On his last appearance at the venue, McCarthy was sent off before the throw-in, while he hit 1-13 against Cork in the All-Ireland final.

Whatever has sparked the booing of the 20-year-old, former Tipp boss Sheedy says it has to stop.

Speaking on Dalo's Hurling Show, Sheedy said: "It’s unacceptable. It has no part in our games. Do we want to say, 'every county boo away', all in, let’s go. No way. It has no part to play in our games, none.

"It has to stop. It’s not acceptable and I think the GAA need to be really strong on this.

"A young fella plying his trade. Had a really tough thing to deal with down in Cork and then had it again in the All-Ireland semi-final and dealt with it and came out and scored 1-13 in the final.

"He’s an iconic player. He’s doing it in Fitzgibbon, he’s doing it for Toomevara, he’s doing it for Tipp.

"And if it was Alan Connolly for Cork I’d say the very same thing. This is not a Tipperary thing. It’s completely unacceptable. Right now, I don’t see us taking any action, and it’s awful for the young fella.

"You can see, when he put the ball over the bar, it’s driving him. It’s niggling a little bit and it probably can be an inch of motivation. But I just think we should block that out. We’ve never had it in our stadiums and I’d hate to see that creeping in."

Anthony Daly wondered if counties could be punished for supporter behaviour by losing a home league tie the following season. 

Sheedy added: "Whatever the action needs to be, we have to block it out. There is no honest GAA person who would accept that’s the environment we want our games to be played in."

If the booing is partly down to McCarthy's protracted free-taking routine, TJ Ryan finds that "a bit rich from Cork". 

"I've been at games where Patrick Horgan left the corner forward position and came out past midfield to take a free and it felt like an eternity. And don’t get me wrong, Diarmaid Byrnes has taken the sting out of games too when he has a free. It’s what they do."

Sheedy would have no issue bringing in a timer on freetaking, but hopes the booing won't resurface when Cork visit Semple Stadium in the Munster Championship. 

"I’d love to see someone getting strong on it. On April 19th, we want to see Darragh McCarthy and all the players going out without being booed. And if Darrgh McCarthy stands over the first free and was getting booed, I’d expect a reaction. Then Alan Connolly is over a free and the booing starts. And you’ve a tit for tat. Is that where we want to go?"

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