Ger Brennan says he wants to move on from the recent controversy over his ban and revealed that GAA President Jarlath Burns apologised for some comments made in the media.
The manager was back on the sidelines to oversee Dublin’s 1-24 to 0-16 All-Ireland SFC Round 2B win over Cavan at Kingpan Breffni Park after his 12-week suspension expired on Saturday night.
Brennan had been banned for an incident, an altercation involving contact with Galway’s strength and conditioning coach, during a league match at the end of March.
The issue was stoked three weeks ago when Donegal boss Jim McGuinness escaped a sanction for what many considered a similar infraction at half-time of their win over Kerry.
Burns spoke about the issue on RTÉ Radio 1 two weeks ago and said that comparisons between the two incidents was “irrational”.
That led to Brennan issuing a statement through his solicitor reflecting that he felt the suggestion that it was “irrational” to compare the incidents was “insulting”.
The ban meant that Brennan was unable to partake in any GAA activities including underage coaching.
Asked about the last 12 weeks, the former Dublin captain (below) was eager to move on.
“Grand. Yeah, just getting on with sport again,” he told RTÉ Sport.
“Well look, my solicitor issued a statement last week and I don’t really have a whole lot more to say on it.
“Some lovely bits of support from around the country, friends, family, the county board and the management team and what not.
“To be fair to Jarlath Burns, he did ring me last week, we had a very sincere, honest, friendly conversation.
“He apologised, I accepted it.
“We move on and concentrate on the football from here on in and then Congress 2027 is probably an opportunity to try and put [issues about the severity of the sanction] right.
“I just want to concentrate on football going forward.”
In Brennan’s absence, interim manager Dean Rock oversaw a meandering campaign that included a Leinster final loss to Westmeath, and a qualifier defeat to Louth, both games at Croke Park.
However, they were able to pull away from a lively Cavan side after an even first half to book a place in Monday’s Round 3 draw.
Donegal and Armagh both lost this weekend in shock results but Brennan was not interested in how those defeats affect the Dubs’ chances of a first All-Ireland since 2023.
“Look, we’re just focussing on the next game, the draw tomorrow and see who we get,” he said.
“I’m not aware of some of the results bar the games yesterday, so we’ll see who we get in the draw tomorrow and we’ll just take it one game at a time.”
Dermot McCabe and Ger Brennan shake hands after the match
Meanwhile, Cavan manager Dermot McCabe was left to rue his side’s inefficiency in front of goal as their season came to an end.
“I suppose up to half-time or up to about 45 minutes, I thought we were very much in the battle and doing a lot of things well,” he said.
“We were in a little bit of difficulty in probably gaining possession from our own kick-outs, but the lads were working extremely hard in what was a very difficult and warm day.
“Unfortunately it’s our efficiency in front of goals, we had a few drop-shorts and a few wides at times when there was maybe two or three points in it.
“It sucked a little bit of the life out of us and probably our supporters who were out strong today for us.
“If we had got them scores, maybe I think it was 17-14 for a little while or 18-15 around that sort of time, I think we could have got back on level terms and it probably sucked the life out of us.”