Burns made the remarks on RT\u00c9 Radio 1\u2019s Morning Ireland programme on Tuesday morning when speaking about Brennan\u2019s suspension for an altercation with Galway coach Cian Breathnach-McGinn in March\u2019s Division 1 game between the counties and McGuinness\u2019 act in Killarney last Saturday week.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy client considers the description of \u2018irrational\u2019 in respect of comparisons with his case and another incident in another game as insulting to those holding that widely held view,\u201d reads the statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover, he is further concerned that the Uachtar\u00e1n stated that \u201cit\u2019s more embarrassing for the CCCC to lose a case’ brought by it at hearing, appeal, or DRA.<\/p>\n
\u201cNatural justice of course dictates that justice ought to be done and no CCC should ever be \u2018embarrassed\u2019 at an infraction brought not being proven. Indeed, the GAA\u2019s own disciplinary handbook at page 16 states \u201c\u2026the process is about getting the right answer, not \u2018winning\u2019 or \u2018losing\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
The full statement reads:<\/p>\n
\u201cFollowing comments made by Uachtar\u00e1n CLG yesterday in relation to my client, when asked a question by a radio journalist about another bainisteoir in game that my client was not involved, my client has instructed me to issue this statement by way of clarification and to correct certain matters now brought into the public domain by the association.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy client never had a wish to publicise his case and significantly has not made any public comment since the match in Galway but now feels compelled to do so.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly, my client welcomes the massive GAA public support for him personally and for his position in the mainstream and social media, both in the aftermath of the conclusion of the process nearly seven weeks ago, and again in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe thanked the CHC (Centra Hearings Committee), CAC (Central Appeals Committee) and DRA (Disputes Resolution Authority) members at the conclusion of each hearing and wishes to thank them again publicly, for the expedient and professional manner in which his case was dealt, despite his obvious personal disappointment at the outcome.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy client dealt with the entire strands of the GAA disciplinary process concerning his infraction in private forums and was extremely surprised at the public comments made yesterday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is also noteworthy that at hearing, appeal and at the DRA, the outcomes were reported in the media within minutes of the decisions being conveyed to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, the DRA written decision has yet to be released to the parties, yet extracts have inexplicably in recent weeks appeared in a national newspaper.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Brennan from the outset and throughout the process accepted wrongdoing, apologised for his actions and suggested the appropriate infraction was \u2018disruptive conduct\u2019, with the proportionate and balanced punishment a four-week\/one-game ban warranted.<\/p>\n
![\"GAA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/5105106_7_articleinline_94905_2970973.jpg\" "\\"GAA")
GAA president Jarlath Burns. Pic: \u00a9INPHO\/Tom O\u2019Hanlon<\/p>\n
\u201cIronically, this was the very same infraction sent to \u2018the pitch invader\u2019 whom he intervened with, after Brian Howard had been attacked.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Burns has now sought to infer that my client\u2019s infraction was \u2018different\u2019 in that it he received a red card and has referred to the referees\u2019 report as \u2018sacrosanct\u2019 – meaning that it is \u2018untouchable\u2019 and \u2018not open to criticism or challenge\u2019!<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, rather than process the red card in the normal manner, the CCCC (Central Competitions Control Committee), in advance of their following meeting, sought to seek clarification as \u2018the pitch invader\u2019 was not listed as a team official on the team official\u2019s list, as required under CCCC match regulations.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Galway team official list differed from the referee\u2019s report, and it was therefore reasonably argued throughout the process that a lesser infraction was more appropriate given the clear inconsistency.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy client considers the description of \u2018irrational\u2019 in respect of comparisons with his case and another incident in another game as insulting to those holding that widely held view.<\/p>\n
\u201cMoreover, he is further concerned that the Uachtar\u00e1n stated that \u201cit\u2019s more embarrassing for the CCCC to lose a case\u201d brought by it at hearing, appeal, or DRA.<\/p>\n
\u201cNatural justice of course dictates that justice ought to be done and no CCC should ever be \u2018embarrassed\u2019 at an infraction brought not being proven. Indeed, the GAA\u2019s own disciplinary handbook at page 16 states \u201c\u2026the process is about getting the right answer, not \u2018winning\u2019 or \u2018losing\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was also intimated that if Dublin are fixed to play next Sunday, as opposed to Saturday that my client\u2019s suspension \u2018will be over\u2019. Again, this is not the case. Following the 12-week draconian ban wherein my client will have been suspended for either four and a half (sic), Mr Brennan remains further suspended for 30% of the NFL in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cOthers can and will no doubt judge if this is fair, proportionate or balanced in the context of how the CCCC process all alleged infractions. My client is most concerned, that in his view, a consistent and equitable approach is unfortunately not being applied to every team, player and manager by the CCCC, in dealing with disciplinary matters arising.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr Brennan is heartened however by verbal confirmation from the Uachtar\u00e1n to Dublin GAA last week, that Ard Comhairle intends considering the fairness of the penalty for the infraction listed at Rial 7.2(c) Category IVa TO 2026, with a view to considering bringing a motion to Congress 2027, to amend or alter the penalty.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy client is a committed GAA volunteer and has never sought any media attention since his infraction over 10 weeks ago. As a result of his suspension however, his family have suffered, his son\u2019s underage team have been a coach short, the Dublin Senior Football team have been severely prejudiced, and he himself has been personally affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe feels disenfranchised, undervalued and a lack of belonging to the association given the events of the past three months. These views were indeed conveyed privately by email to Uachtar\u00e1n, Ard Sti\u00farth\u00f3ir and the CCCC, in advance of yesterday\u2019s public comments. Indeed, Ard Sti\u00farth\u00f3ir Tom Ryan had subsequently provided a positive private written response to Mr Brennan.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy client also wishes to commend and thank his family, close friends and the members of the County Committee and management committee of Dublin GAA for their unwavering support of him. It is important however that the above facts of the matter are known publicly given the comments made by the association and the subsequent inaccuracies reported in the media yesterday and today, concerning my client and his case. My client would also welcome the GAA publicly putting the record straight.<\/p>\n
“Is Mise, CONOR SALLY, SOLICITOR On behalf of my client Mr Ger Brennan, Bainisteoir, Dublin Senior Football Team.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dublin senior football manager Ger Brennan, via his solicitor, has described GAA president Jarlath Burns\u2019 comments about his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":481242,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[4365,2179,61,60,112],"class_list":["post-481241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-gaelic-football","tag-dublin-gaa","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=481241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481241\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/481242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}