Tiernan Kelly Incident

What are you saying, that there should be less condemnation of Tiernan Kelly because he didn`t achieve what he was attempting to do, or that you believe he was really only arrempting to dry the sweat of Comer`s brow ?

The scumbag was attempting to gouge his eyes intentionally.. He should be banned for life, including from all GAA pitches.

You do realise that other parts of Ireland were planted as well and had formidable clans to repel the invaders don't you?

The 'fear' in Mayo is beginning to kick in. It probably won't happen.. Then again it might...............

It's true, and if two people on the street (in the crowd) started fighting you'd imagine they'd be arrested.

GAA hypocrisy enabled this to happen, nobody ever properly punished for scumbaggery , lads getting off in appeal for BS reasons because it would be fair them to miss the semi final/final they’ve been training for, etc

could do with less of the victim mentality from the northies too, scumbags all over the country but definitely a higher concentration and willingness to excuse outright thuggery from that quarter.

If Kelly isn’t banned for at least a year (misssing next year’s championship) it’s a farce

hell get off on appeal because of a comma in the wrong place or one of the disciplinary committee wearing a striped shirt or some other BS as usual

Agreed - that’s what tear gas/pepper spray is for.

launch a canister into the melee and it won’t be longer before it dies out- or maybe a water cannon

There were plenty wading in on their own to calm the handbags down. The Gardai just stood there.

Laois and Offaly were planted too. So we are also "the most important region in Irish history"!😉

I agree on Kelly, the absolute minimum he should get is a year, but I don`t believe Armagh management or their county board should be allowed to walk away scot free. I also agree that the disciplinary structure is unfit for purpose and contributed to this by allowing Armagh get away with it after the Donegal v Armagh league match, but with this being the third time this year the Armagh county board and especially management aren`t blameless either.

I would not agree though on this lumping all Ulster teams as nordies with a victim mentality. For the Donegal v Armagh melee Donegal, unlike Armagh, accepted their punishment. Ulster championship football has always been tough and physical, but in general has had no more thuggery than any of the other three provinces, and nothing like the level that was happening both on and off the pitch on Sunday. Go through any county panel past and present and each will have lads that were/are no angels and far as I recall the last two players at this level accused of attempted eye gouging were not members of "nordie" teams but of the two most successful championship teams in the country.

The whole GAA disciplinary process is just a reflection of the Irish mentality regarding a lot of "trivial" laws; where having laws is right and proper, but enforcing them is just fundamentally unreasonable.

I was reminded of the same mindset this morning while listening to the radio, the guest was talking about environmental crimes, polluting rivers, destruction of wildlife, burning gorselands and mountains etc. and how in other countries these are treated as serious offences with the offenders being seen as criminals. Here in Ireland though, while the public would agree we need environmental protection laws, they'd also feel it to be unjust for anyone to actually be brought before the courts for environmental crimes.

Similar in the GAA; nobody would ever want to remove offences like striking another player or contributing to a melee from the rulebook, yet whenever it happens it's dismissed as "handbags" and "excitement after training for months" and we're told it'd be wrong to actually enforce the laws except in extreme cases.

The laws are supposed to be an empty gesture, a theoretical deterrent; and if they're broken there shouldn't be any consequences.

I predicted earlier in the thread that this would happen by the end of the week, that poor Tiernan would be defended and what a great fellow he is.

Super post. I agree wholeheartedly. I read Darragh O Se's article and cringed..

I have sympathy for where he is coming from. There has been a number of gouging incidents in rugby in this country and there wasn't a peep from anyone in government because they didn't want to upset the the private school, barrister brigade who really run this country.

That ape Pat Kenny having a cut turned my stomach as well, he would really look down his nose at the country folk boxing each other from his Dalkey perch. He didn't make noise when it happened in rugby either

An Garda Siochana have no place in crossing the white line.

Can you imagine the consternation that this would cause!

The GAA are now at a crossroads where they can actually put a marker down for the betterment of the games. If they back down here and do not ban him for 12 months at least, they will be setting up the "Kelly defence" for any other people who think that is how they can behave on the pitch.

As Lurgan GAA stated the following when praising Kelly "the time he spends coaching and encouraging our young Gaels" they forgot to say how his actions would have influenced or affected those same "young Gaels", who clearly hero-worship the guy.

Why would he feel the need to do that when philly mcmahon only missed a game for doing the same thing? He even denied he did it when speaking on a radio show a few days later. Even now he is cribbing about it costing him poty, as if it is some injustice. If he can still be a role model then tiernan kelly certainly can too.

So called Peacemakers would be far better off keeping well away from the action. They are just contributing to a melee.

Well a different era but the same antics could be seen in the 1996 all Ireland final replay and they got away scot free.

The "if it happened on the street" is an unfair measure in lots of ways though isn't it? If Dáithí Burke shouldered someone on the street like he did Séamus Harnedy he'd have a case to answer yet nobody questioned why the Gardaí didn't intervene. Likewise the average rugby player. Katie Taylor would probably spend her life in a high security prison if sporting activity was held to the same standard as "on the street". The problem with arguing that it should be is that you have to accept that it applies to all aspects of the physical confrontation that is considered a natural part of sport.

How were those gouging incidents in rugby treated by that game's authorities? I imagine the perpetrators were swiftly and severely dealt with. There were no "Ah now he only grabbed his face, he didn't DELIBERATELY stick his fingers in anyone's eyes. So leave him alone"

There was an incident a few years ago when Alan Quinlan, a Munster and Ireland stalwart, brushed his hand against an opponent's face, it was picked up on camera and he was immediately suspended for "making contact in the eye area". He was bumped off the Lions tour for which he had just been selected as a result. He never actually made a Lions tour. There was no quibble either. You CAN'T DO that sort of thing.

The GAA's natural indignation at ANY comment being made about thuggery by its members is counter productive. The Association should be big enough and bold enough to insist on certain standards of behaviour by players and pitch-side support staff and to be unambiguous about how they react to infringements.

That's all.

I blame the Dubs, split them into 4 ASAP to save the game😂

I agree with you that the Gaa should deal with it as harshly as possible. That's not the point.

The point is the Taoiseach, Government ministers and clowns like Pat Kenny should keep their beaks out of it because they never opened their beaks when it happened in rugby. Double standards and that's why I would sympathise with what Dara O Se was saying.