The referee who was the victim of an alleged assault on Monday evening is scheduled to officiate a game in Clare this evening, despite suffering a cut lip during the incident.
The alleged assault of referee John O’Connell at an underage football match in Kilrush will be fully investigated by Clare GAA, with punishment set to be handed down if it is shown an infraction occurred.
A garda investigation is also under way into the incident at the Under-15 game between Kilrush-Killimer and Lissycasey on Monday evening during which O’Connell ended up on the ground surrounded by a number of people.
Video footage has been circulating following the incident and shows O’Connell being assisted up off the ground and away from the field.
Gardai told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland that they received a report of incidents of assault that occurred in Kilrush on Monday evening and they said that a male in his 50s and a youth sustained injuries.
The programme also contacted Clare GAA, with chairperson Kieran Keating saying he “was very disappointed” at what occurred, adding that “so much has been done to improve behaviour on the pitch”.
The Clare board are now keen to gather as much detail as possible before deciding on their next course of action, with Keating adding: “We don’t have referee John O’Connell’s report yet.
“There had been a couple of sendings off and a little bit of an altercation, that’s probably too small a word for it, but we’ll call it that for now.
“John ended up on the ground and a number of players and mentors as we understand it were around him – to protect him from any assault. He sustained an injury to his lip, helped up off the ground and walked off the field. We will review the footage and talk to those witnessed it and make our findings based on that.
“John got a cut to his lip, whether that was assault or what I can’t say until we get the full details. Certainly there was an altercation of some sort and that’s what we will be investigating. Hopefully we will have findings and if there was an infraction we will punish the culprits.”
Keating went on to say that O’Connell is in “good form” and that he is due to officiate at a game this evening.
“That’s good news that he wants to get back on the horse, as they say, and do what many referees do for us, week in, week out.
“It is a bitter step backwards when any mentor, player, parent or supporter commits any infraction upon a referee..”
The Banner supremo was also keen to highlight the two-strand approach going forward.
“As for the civil side, if the Gardai decide that there is criminal activity or civil disobedience, the Gardai will process that as they do. That may take quite a bit of time.
“In the meantime we will follow our procedures in dealing with infractions. These type of infractions against referees and officials are the most heinous in our books aside from child welfare issues and are treated with quite a penally in our codes.”