OPINION: GAA President's double standard on Rory Gallagher laid bare by Kyle Hayes award

The GAA President Jarlath Burns has won many plaudits since his tenure in the top job commenced almost a year ago. He's seen as a progressive who is bringing the game forward, as well as bringing a human touch, capturing the mood of the organisation and even the nation at times, especially in speeches on the steps of Croke Park.

However, he waded into a major controversy last week when he contacted Naas GAA by email to warn them against taking on former Fermanagh footballer and Derry GAA senior manager as a coach. He told the club their reputation was at stake if they pressed ahead with the appointment. The move was a step too far for the GAA President and highlights a glaring double standard at the very top of the GAA.

Rory Gallagher was one of the rising coaching stars of the GAA prior to 2023 when his estranged wife Nicola made a raft of allegations of domestic abuse against him. He has denied the allegations levelled against him, and they have also been investigated by the PSNI in Northern Ireland. The Public Prosecution Service, the equivalent of the DPP, said there was insufficient evidence to press charges against him.

ABOVE: Rory Gallagher during his time as Derry senior football manager 

The GAA carried out its own investigation and the Ulster Council disbarred Rory Gallagher for a period of time. He successfully overturned that debarment. In a statement, Gallagher said: “The PPS have issued two separate decisions finding that I have no case to answer. I have the full custody of my three children, and most importantly I engaged with the GAA’s own procedures which set aside my disbarment.”

While the allegations made against Gallagher are of the utmost seriousness, they have been untested in a court of law. He has never been convicted on any charges in relation to them. He returned to GAA life as a coach with Corduff GAA in 2023 and yet a move from a Monaghan club to a Kildare club appears to have prompted the GAA President into action. 

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In his contact with Naas GAA, he acknowledged that he didn't have the power to block the hiring of Rory Gallagher but his influence was enough for Naas to quell their interest. He spoke up for the GAA's Game Changer initiative which seeks "to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence."

He said: “The appointment of Rory Gallagher, given the allegations that have been made public, risks undermining the principles of the Game Changer Initiative and the positive work being done across the GAA to address issues of respect and inclusion.

PICTURED: GAA President Jarlath Burns speaks at an awards ceremony

“While Gallagher has publicly stated that no charges were brought against him, the controversy surrounding his personal life has created significant division and concern within the wider GAA community.”

When the GAA President speaks, club officials listen, and that was very obvious in this case. The unprecedented intervention was enough for Rory Gallagher to hit back and threaten legal action against Armagh man Burns for seeking to "sabotage" his potential appointment.

“Such action is not only without precedent, it seeks to enter into an authoritarian world where due process and procedure count for nothing,” he said.

“I await with interest to see if Mr Burns takes such direct personal action against others who find their private life the subject of social media commentary and hyperbole. The chilling effect of these actions cannot be greater.”

Mr Gallagher said the actions of Mr Burns “not only undermine the very principles of fairness and equality to which the GAA is premised, but it sends a clear message that such dictatorial action can and will be taken, when the President sees fit."

Therein lies the serious problem with the GAA President's intervention. He has seemingly ignored his own organisation's due process which saw Gallagher's debarment lifted giving the lack of legal progression with the allegations against him. If Jarlath Burns doesn't agree with an outcome in any future GAA investigation, is he going to override it and appoint himself as the arbiter of morality for some sort of 'greater good.' No organisation should base decisions like this on the court of public opinion.

Where does the GAA President draw the line? He has been silent when other high-profile individuals within the GAA have had brushes with the law. One of the most celebrated hurlers of a generation, Kyle Hayes, was convicted in March of last year for violent disorder outside a Limerick nightclub, in which an innocent young man was kicked mercilessly while on the ground, suffering a broken eye socket. For his role in the assault, Hayes was charged, convicted and handed a two-year suspended prison sentence. Seven months after this conviction, Hayes was handed an All-Star award by the GAA President. How does that tally?

ABOVE: Kyle Hayes taking part in a charity GAA match three months after being convicted of violent disorder

Kyle Hayes is a role model to thousands of kids in Limerick and beyond and one of the most famous proponents of the game of hurling. He too is part of the GAA that says it wants to uphold an ethos of respect and weed out violence. Jarlath Burns didn't take any action or make any statement when this extremely serious matter concluded in the courts. The Limerick senior hurling manager John Kiely even spoke in court to attest to Hayes' character during the trial.

"He has a strong work ethic, is a strong leader, he puts the team first and himself last. He is somebody I can rely on in the most difficult circumstances,” Mr Kiely said in court, adding, "every young man deserves a second chance. I respectfully ask you to give him a second chance - he won’t disappoint you." He subsequently stressed he was not condoning Hayes' actions on the night but nevertheless, he spoke up for him in court. 

His victim Cillian McCarthy spoke about not only being physically injured, but about the loneliness and a loss of income he suffered subsequently. He said in a victim impact statement that he missed out on a lot of his apprenticeship at the time and could no longer drive at night due to double vision caused by his injuries. He was the victim of a vicious assault at the hands of a top GAA star - but the show went on - and Hayes has pulled on the green jersey and pucked many a ball around Croke Park since. He's been celebrated by the GAA in the intervening period.

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On one hand, we have a player, and role model, actually convicted of a violent crime, and on the other, a coach accused but not convicted of any crime. Why does Jarlath Burns speak out on one and not the other? It doesn't add up and is a blatant double standard. It is also a dangerous precedent if it is to be the way in which the GAA President operates into the future. 

Will he step him in a similar way to prevent other coaches or players from being part of the GAA family? Does he now have to if he is to be consistent? Most importantly of all, does he step up to this moral parapet in possession of legal facts and findings or rumour and gossip? If its the latter, the GAA is going down a very precarious path.