{"id":481333,"date":"2026-06-03T18:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/481333\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T18:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T18:03:12","slug":"dublin-boss-ger-brennan-issues-statement-of-clarification-through-solicitor-over-jarlath-burns-comments-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/481333\/","title":{"rendered":"Dublin boss Ger Brennan issues \u2018statement of clarification\u2019 through solicitor over Jarlath Burns comments \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dublin<\/a> senior football manager Ger Brennan<\/a> has issued a \u201cstatement of clarification\u201d through his solicitor in response to comments made by GAA<\/a> president Jarlath Burns<\/a> on recent disciplinary incidents.<\/p>\n

Brennan is currently serving a three-month ban following a clash with Galway\u2019s strength and conditioning coach Cian Breathnach McGinn during a league fixture in March.<\/p>\n

Donegal<\/a> manager Jim McGuinness<\/a> escaped any punishment following his clash with Kerry player Diarmuid O\u2019Connor at half-time of their All-Ireland SFC clash in Killarney last month.<\/p>\n

Within the lengthy statement of over 900 words, solicitor Conor Sally says Brennan has been personally affected by the controversy and \u201cfeels disenfranchised, undervalued and a lack of belonging to the association given the events of the past three months\u201d.<\/p>\n

Speaking on RT\u00c9\u2019s Morning Ireland on Tuesday, Burns defended the GAA\u2019s disciplinary system and said the cases were not comparable.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has only been cast into the spotlight because of another issue that some people maybe are comparing irrationally, if you want to call it that, because you\u2019re not comparing the same thing. As I said, comparison is the thief of contentment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brennan, who will return to the Dublin sideline for their All-Ireland SFC Round 2B fixture away to Cavan on Sunday, June 14th, issued the following statement on Wednesday afternoon via his solicitor.<\/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 [a] 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

The statement continued: \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 4 week\/1 game ban warranted. Ironically, 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 \u201cdifferent\u201d in that it he received a red card and has referred to the referees\u2019 report as \u201csacrosanct\u201d \u2013 meaning that it is \u2018untouchable\u2019 and \u2018not open to criticism or challenge\u2019!<\/p>\n

\"GAAGAA president Jarlath Burns. Photograph: Tom O\u2019Hanlon\/Inpho <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, rather than process the red card in the normal manner, the CCCC, 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. The 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 \u201cirrational\u201d in respect of comparisons with his case and another incident in another game as insulting to those holding that widely held view. Moreover, 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\u2026 the process is about getting the right answer, not \u201cwinning\u201d or \u201closing\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the 12-week draconian ban wherein my client will have been suspended for either 4 and a half, or 5 and a half games, depending on when the CCCC schedule Dublin\u2019s next game, 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. He feels disenfranchised, undervalued and a lack of belonging to the association given the events of the past three months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The statement concluded: \u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

When contacted on Wednesday afternoon, the GAA declined to comment further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dublin senior football manager Ger Brennan has issued a \u201cstatement of clarification\u201d through his solicitor in response to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2179,4183,2181,61,60,59576,13018,112],"class_list":["post-481333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-dublin-gaa","tag-gaa","tag-ger-brennan","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jarlath-burns","tag-jim-mcguinness","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481333","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=481333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/481333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=481333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=481333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=481333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}