Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donovan’s comments about pausing all astroturf investments into the League of Ireland in the wake of Friday’s scenes at Oriel Park are a “massive over-reaction”, according to former goalkeeper Barry Murphy.
The Louth derby was marred by Drogheda United fans throwing flares onto Dundalk’s newly relaid artificial pitch. A 12-year-old supporter was also left “shook” having been struck by a flare.
Trouble ensued before the match as well. Fans clashed outside Clarke train station, while afterwards, gardaà arrested a man in his 20s after responding to a report of a public order incident on Carrickmacross Road.
Both Dundalk and Drogheda United condemned the turn of events in a joint statement on Sunday, with a meeting between the rival clubs planned for Tuesday.
On Monday evening Drogheda United apologised to Dundalk over damage caused to the pitch, vowing to impose an immediate stadium ban for anyone found to have participated in the damage caused to the pitch, or to have caused harm to another person.
“The club extends its sincere apologies to Dundalk FC for the unacceptable actions of a small minority of supporters. The damage caused to the pitch and away stand facilities is wholly unacceptable.
“While rivalry is an integral part of football, the destruction of property and reckless behaviour have no place in our game and do not reflect the values or standards of Drogheda United FC”.
Minister O’Donovan attended Friday’s fixture. On Monday morning, he told RTÉ Radio 1’s Today with David McCullagh programme that he will not rule out pushing for legislation to stamp out the presence of flares at League of Ireland matches.
He said that he has asked the department to pause all astroturf investments into clubs until he gets a “sufficient response” from the FAI and League of Ireland to protect innocent patrons and the government’s investment.
He described what happened as “reckless endangerment” as well as criminal damage, and added that it was not the first time and he doubted it would be the last time.
Minister O’Donovan said he has sought a meeting with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, and had set up another meeting with the FAI and League of Ireland for this week, stressing that he wanted to see proposals on the issue.
Speaking on the RTÉ Soccer Podcast, ex-Shamrock Rovers, Bohemians and St Patrick’s Athletic goalkeeper Murphy agreed that Friday’s incidents were a “bad look for the league” with “huge damage done”.
However, he felt that Minister O’Donovan had gone too far in his remarks today.
“I think it’s a massive over-reaction the way the Minister has come out and spoke about that,” he said.
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“I think it is a disgraceful thing to happen (on Friday), the pitch is ruined. But to come out with this idea of collective punishment where you’re basically going to pull funding because some idiots have thrown something onto a pitch?
“We see it happening in the GAA grounds, we see it in the stands, people fighting. Is there an idea that you’re going to suddenly pull funding for that?
“You can’t just say that because he was at the game. But also 15 seconds into his own Instagram reel on Friday night, he’s got pictures of the flares on his own Instagram, saying ‘brilliant derby atmosphere’.
“You can’t be speaking out of both sides of your mouth as a politician and then suddenly condemn it when it goes wrong.”
Murphy said that more could be done to improve the policing of the away end at Oriel Park. But he also pointed out that neither the League nor club have any remit to deal with the incidents away from the ground such as at the train station.
“(Minister O’Donovan) is absolutely right to say that the policing at it needs to be better, the governance of the whole situation,” he said.
“But this idea of punishing everyone is just ridiculous for me. It’s an over-reaction on live radio from him, especially when you’re putting stuff like that on Instagram as well.”
A still from Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s Louth derby Instagram reel
Also speaking on the podcast, ex-Dundalk and Shamrock Rovers league winner Richie Towell echoed Murphy’s view that pausing all investment into astroturf pitches around the country was unreasonable.
He added that harshly punishing the individuals responsible for bringing flares into stadiums was the best way forward.
“I don’t agree with him as well saying that there won’t be anymore grants handed out until this is sorted,” he said.
“It’s really, really hard to clamp down on any individual that wants to bring in a flare. Realistically, I don’t think any football club would want (flares) at the games.
“I know even as a player, when the flares used to come onto the pitch or be lit at Tallaght Stadium, (with) my asthma, I used to have to walk all the way into the corners and as far away from it as I could.
“It used to hinder the start of the game. I think first and foremost, they just need to ban the flares. Secondly, if you do get caught with a flare, you’re not welcome back to the stadium ever again. That’s one of the ways they can clamp down on this.”
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