Violence in Gaelic Games

mossbags wrote:Brolly was spot on about Cork. He is also spot on here

Brolly’s Bites - Wall of silence shames our great association

Published on Friday 29 July 2011 10:30

On our way into the Ulster final, we were chatting excitedly about the game. Then, as the crowd turned in towards the stadium, we were greeted by young men and women holding placards promoting the Mark McGovern fund. We soon sobered. (See Appeal details below).

Mark, the 22-year old son of Danny and Josie, left work just over six weeks ago to spend the summer in California. The ‘Sunshine State’ has Arnie, vineyards and gaelic football. Mark – a promising footballer - made his debut for Fermanagh in this year’s McKenna Cup. So when he contacted the Ulster club in San Francisco, they welcomed him with open arms.

On the 25th of June, he stepped out in broad sunshine to play his first game. Within 15 minutes, he was having seizures on the ground, before passing into unconsciousness. He has been in a coma since. One of those ubiquitous off-the-ball incidents. Witnesses told the San Francisco PD they turned to see an opposing player standing over the stricken boy, saying “You won’t get up from that.” Five weeks on, his family maintains their heartbreaking vigil in the ICU at San Francisco General.

The incident typifies the gratuitous violence that dogs the game at club level. On Wednesday past, my club St. Brigid’s played a Division One match against Moneyglass. In the home fixture earlier in the year, there was an accidental clash of heads between our midfielder and theirs as they both went for the same ball. Their man eventually went off concussed. Ours played on. Ten minutes into the return game on Wednesday, he was poleaxed by a knee into his face after the ball had gone. As he got off the ground, face covered in blood, his attacker said “Remember me?” He was lucky. At midnight, the doctor at the Royal Victoria stitched his face and sent him home. It is the third serious off-the-ball assault that has been perpetrated on a St. Brigid’s senior player this season.

The GAA is used by some as a violent playground. They can do this because of the foul conspiracy of silence that surrounds on field assaults. I have been briefed to defend four different footballers in the last 18 months, all charged with serious assaults during games. None went to trial after complaints were withdrawn and witnesses didn’t appear.

After a player was injured in an atrocious incident in a club game between Augher and Moortown two years ago, one contributor to the Hogan Stand website calling himself ‘Barnicles’ wrote....“At least the Moortown men won’t go to the police like some other members of the GAA fraternity in Tyrone.”

I was at a charity night for Marie Curie nurses four weeks ago and met Joe McMahon, whose cheek was swollen as tight as a drum. A month earlier he had his jaw broken in a treacherous attack from behind during a club game. “What can you do?” he said to me, shrugging his shoulders.

Less than a month ago, Christy Cooney said that the problem of gratuitous violence had “improved enormously”. Tell that to the referee and County Board chairman who were knocked unconscious after the Tyrone ladies’final last month. The president said this sort of incident “shouldn’t occur but some people lose the run of themselves and these things happen”. It is not a defence I have ever contemplated running in front of a jury.

Less than a fortnight ago, during the Offaly Division One football league final between Ballycumber and Edenderry, Sean Doyle, a 17 year-old Edenderry player was allegedly struck in the face by a Ballycumber selector, damaging some teeth and leaving him with a bloody face. The Gardai are investigating. I can almost hear the ranks closing....

In a rare example of justice being done, Judge Catherine Murphy presided over a case in Dublin recently involving an off-the-ball attack on a 22 year-old Kilmacud Crokes player. The medical evidence before the court documented that his gums were separated from the bone in his mouth, he lost one tooth and fractured two others. The assailant (who was convicted of the offence) allegedly kissed his fist in triumph after the assault. The judge in her sentencing remarks was highly critical of “the amount of aggression that is accepted as normal by GAA clubs.”

After Mark McGovern was assaulted, one of his team-mates was told by an opponent “You won’t get an eye-witness”. Almost five weeks on, not a single eye-witness has come forward. On Tuesday this week, the San Francisco Police Department made a televised appeal for witnesses. They have been confronted by a wall of silence.

Judge Murphy is right. It is time for all of us in the GAA to examine our attitudes to gratuitous violence. The conspiracies of silence. The back-slapping in the club bar afterwards. The culture is rotten and unsupportable and survives only because no serious, comprehensive effort has been made to deal with it. If we don’t act, it is only a matter of time before another terrified family is gathered round a hospital bed, listening to the bleep of a ventilator.

black&white wrote:Still no apology received from the offending club or player.

Jayo Cluxton wrote:

black&white wrote:Still no apology received from the offending club or player.

My guess us that they are afraid that if there is an apology it would be an admission of guilt and could be used if it goes down the legal route. Mind you the guy seems such a scumbag that I don't think a personal apology would be first thing on his mind. He should be banned for life given his record.

bocerty wrote:Guys i totally agree with the sentiments expressed on here, i have no time for the guys who go out on a football/hurling field to cause deliberate harm to another player.

However picture the scenario, your a manager/chairman/secretary/player of a club and during a match one of your players assaults an opposing player leaving him with serious injuries and needing hospital treatment. You seen the incident first hand and know your guy was in the wrong and totally unprovoked in the lead up to the attack.

As you would expect an inquiry/investigation is launched and you are asked for your version of events, how do you handle it and what would you say, bearing in mind the possible consequences of telling the truth.

Its all very well saying what should be done but when your put in the position would you heed your own advice?

For what its worth i think clubs should 'out' the perpetrators of such acts and let them deal with the consequences, and even more so i think these 'men' as they like to think they are should come clean themselves and put their hand up .............

bluearmy1 wrote:The GAA is simply going to have to take a legal stance on this and ensure that what happens on the pitch is still subject to the law and due process. Incidents on sporting grounds are difficult because often they are protected by the notion of 'manly horseplay' adopted by the courts in cases involving sporting events. But where it is clear that an assault has occurred, where a player has been subjected to an injury or assault that he could not have reasonably expected to be subjected to (even in the hot-blooded atmosphere of a match) then the GAA must instruct clubs and county boards to involve the police.

Ok a player gets digs during a game, gets shouldered and roughed up a fair bit, but these are things that, owing to the nature of the game, he can reasonably expect to happen. He can even reasonably expect to get a dig from a 'stray elbow'. These are the risks that players run when they compete in contact sports. The police and the courts would be very reluctant to underestimate the fact that when people take part in sport with their own full consent then things can get heated because the functioning of sporting events is in the public interest and over-meddling by the authorities would not be i nthe public interest. Take boxing for example...the courts assume that a boxer knows, when he takes part in a bout, that he reasonably expects the other boxer to inflict as much pain as he can, within the rules of the sport.

But where a player is subjected to a preconceived and malicious attack, particularly 'off the ball' and away from the heat of the action on the pitch then it is a different story. When a player steps onto the pitch he can reasonably expect that he may get hurt, but he does not reasonably expect to be singled out for an attack.

Obviously certain players are quite cute when it comes to dishing out digs and this is a difficult area as it can be very hard to differentiate the idea of 'manly horseplay' and assault. Surely the GAA has sought legal advice on the issue and whatever advice they have been given must be made very clear to all members of the Association. They must outline clearly what the authorities will deem to be an assault.

In the case of referees, management and patrons being attacked there can simply be no tolerance. This issue is a cancer in our games and is much more black and white than the issue of players 'attacking' players. These cases should be treated no differently to an assault case concerning a Friday night brawl outside a pub. They are simply unacceptable and if clubs start covering these things up then our Association is going into very dangerous territory. The GAA must make its stance unequivocally clear on what it will consider an assault.....I'm a playing member of the GAA and it has never been made clear to me so there is clearly some degree of failure there.

As for the idea of being reluctant to give evidence against someone who may be a neighbour or family friend or fellow clubman this is going into the realm of perverting the course of justice. If people are going to obstruct justice out of some sense of loyalty to the perpetrator then they run the risk of serious punishment. This must also be made clear to all GAA members.

whiterbananas wrote:I would just like to draw people's attention to a response i received from bocerty on a thread entitled "Should these things be left on the field" some time ago. I think it gives a good indication of the attitude of violence that exists:

the only thing that should have been left on the field was you WB on the flat of you back with a handful of teeth - you wouldnt have had the opportunity to spit the second time if it had been me you spat at, i'd have knocked 7 colours of sh!te out of you after the first incident!!!!

samin12 wrote:There is no place in our games for these acts of violence but unfortunately not all these victims are blameless. Fair play needs to be taught in every way and not just no hitting people. Unfortunately there are players and managers who target these so called hard men or guys with short fuses. Mouthing in players ears, nipping, biting, standing on toes and ankles, grabbing players by the privates, spitting, goading players etc etc etc are all common place (with people seeing many of these acts as just part of the game). In many cases getting a player to lash out is seen as a result by the opponent or "victim". The way i see it is if your willing to get someone to lash out at you just to get them sent off then you have to be willing to run the risk of loosing a few teeth or getting a broken jaw etc. The reality is nobody knows what damage will be done when someone lashes out. It shouldnt happen and nobody should encourage it (AND THAT INCLUDES THE VICTIM). Like i say, not everyone asks for this treatment but i am certain that if the type of provocation mentioned above was wiped out then i would be pretty certain the amount of violent acts would be greatly reduced (unfortunately there would always be the odd nutcase). I would also suggest that there are plenty of people who have got a broken jaw or lost a few teeth or whatever and didnt go to police because deep down they know they deserved it and actually achieved what they set out to (ie getting a slap, not getting seriously hurt). Not saying for a second the likes of the guy in Fermanagh falls into this catergory because i dont know the details but i have seen plenty of players getting a slap, mainly because its exactly what they were trying to achieve.

black&white wrote:

samin12 wrote:There is no place in our games for these acts of violence but unfortunately not all these victims are blameless. Fair play needs to be taught in every way and not just no hitting people. Unfortunately there are players and managers who target these so called hard men or guys with short fuses. Mouthing in players ears, nipping, biting, standing on toes and ankles, grabbing players by the privates, spitting, goading players etc etc etc are all common place (with people seeing many of these acts as just part of the game).

Utter bullsh*t.
Attitudes like this are the main reason that there's such a problem with violence in the GAA. Blame the victim because it's easier than confronting the actual problem.

The niggling and petty rubbish is a scourge on our game, but to try and say that it's the equivalent of inflicting serious injury on someone is just plain lunacy, and reflects pretty badly on your own outlook. If someone tries to wind you up, you go through him for the next ball, make a show of him. Acting like a neanderthal is just an admission that 1) you're not good enough to make a show of him through football and 2) you've a scumbag streak running though you (being "hot-headed" is no defence, if you're immediate reaction to taunting is physical violence then you're a scumbag, plain and simple).

"Your Honour, I assaulted him because he stepped on my toes." Try that deence in court and see how you get on.

Yes we need to stamp out the petty sh*te, but the serious physical assaults are a much bigger problem, and no matter what, are never justifiable.

mossbags wrote:

Some excellent points raised here. It's only a matter of time before the GAA is brought to court for some violent act perpetuated in one of their games on one of their pitches(Has this happened already?, not sure). They must surely have some duty of care especially for under age and cannot be forever washing their hands.

Everyone knows the sort of stuff that goes on in games and the difference between a sly pull, a cynical tackle and even a downright nasty stroke. But outright assault is another thing altogether and one that seems to be an ongoing theme in our games these days. Wouldn't expect much from this current inept administration but whoever comes next needs to adopt a zero tolerance approach and stamp(pardon the pun) this sickness out completely or it will be difficult to muster any sympathy for them when some High Court judge does eventually throw the book at them.

black&white wrote:More good news from San Francisco with respect to Mark McGovern, but I have to say that I'm sickened to hear that his family are being landed with the medical costs (approaching €800k at last count) arising from the incident.
As far as I am aware the GAA are oblidged to have insurance for any injuries sustained whilst playing games organised by the association, and if they do not, at the very least the GAA should ensure that this young man isn't saddled with a crippling debt on top of the injuries sustained.

(Also sadly unsurprised to read that the SFPD are still unable to find a single witness to the incident - the cancer within our games remains unchecked)

OMAR wrote:

black&white wrote:More good news from San Francisco with respect to Mark McGovern, but I have to say that I'm sickened to hear that his family are being landed with the medical costs (approaching €800k at last count) arising from the incident.
As far as I am aware the GAA are oblidged to have insurance for any injuries sustained whilst playing games organised by the association, and if they do not, at the very least the GAA should ensure that this young man isn't saddled with a crippling debt on top of the injuries sustained.

(Also sadly unsurprised to read that the SFPD are still unable to find a single witness to the incident - the cancer within our games remains unchecked)

Seems bizarre that the GAA aren't footing the bill for this - At the Ulster final Mark Mcgoverns clubmates
were collecting money - Its a deserving cause and no one would object to funding any expense his family may have in visiting the hospital etc, but I can't understand why the GAA are not the point of contact for the Medical bill in the first place. If not then surely he has a legitimate claim against the GAA although he shouldn't have to go to the hassle of sueing them.
If he got injured playing a game under their rules well then either the Ref they provided was negligent or
if they can't identify the person that assaulted him they are also negligent in not having CCTV or officials
watching out for his "care" whilst on their premises. Think this is where they get caught between a rock and a hard place - Their defence would be that they can;t account for random acts of violence but if thats the case they should be able to identify the person that did injure him.