'Disgraceful' - GAA fans react as referee is pushed to ground in Tullamore

GAA fans have labelled as 'disgraceful' an incident in which the match referee was knocked to the ground after Tullamore's defeat to Summerhill in the Leinster Senior Football Championship on Sunday afternoon in O'Connor Park.

The incident happened after the final whistle when a spectator entered the field and shoved referee Barry Tiernan to the ground. Stewards quickly surrounded the ref to make sure he could leave the field safely while the perpetrator was dealt with angrily by another official.

Tullamore players and supporters were frustrated after a foul initially called as a penalty for Tullamore late in the game was later changed to a free kick instead. Tullamore lost the game 1-9 to 1-7.

Speaking to Des Cahill on RTE Radio 1, Offaly GAA chairman Michael Duignan labelled it as a "disgraceful incident.

“I can't deny it. Disgraceful incident. There was a bit of controversy at the end where the referee awarded a penalty and then it was overruled and obviously the players were frustrated and they were remonstrating,” he said.

“The players were well away from the ref coming off the field. The Tullamore team [are] a very sporting team, just disappointed which you would be but somebody came in from the terrace then and pushed the referee from behind.

“Terrible. It's a very very tough job and I would have had my arguments over the years with refs but you wouldn't dream about laying a finger on a referee. So look, I'm very sorry it happened here today and I'm sure it'll be dealt with in due course.”

Others in GAA circles were quick to comment on the clip of the incident which is now circulating on social media.

Former Laois footballer and Smaller Fish GAA podcast host Colm Parkinson said: "Harmless enough push but out of order and he'll get a deserved suspension."

He later posted that the incident was "completely out of order" as another GAA fan described it as "common assault."

Some others took issue with Parkinson, who has over 80,000 followers on X, formerly Twitter, labelling it as "a harmless enough push."

One comment read: "Everything that’s wrong with the GAA in that video and everything that’s wrong with the GAA in your opening comment of “harmless enough push”…you can’t put hands on a ref ever, what kind of example is that to the kids on the pitch watching that nonsense?"

Another said: "Should be zero tolerance of any violence or intimidation of match officials. A lengthy ban should ensue."

A third replied: "How would a suspension impact on a supporter when his club have been knocked out? Pretty typical GAA defence of the indefensible."