There are fresh calls for a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to violence in the GAA after a brawl involving players, mentors and supporters saw an under-15 hurling match abandoned on Monday.
Gardaí and the GAA are now investigating the brawl at the Division 1 championship match between Ballygunner and Na Risigh at Mount Sion in Waterford yesterday evening.
Footage of the brawl has been shared widely on social media and the GAA is now awaiting a referee's report on the incident.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, former GAA president Liam O’Neill said it is time to tackle the issue of violence on the pitch once and for all.
“You and I could set our calendar to have this conversation every single year, unfortunately,” he said.
“The reason for that is that we don't tackle it.
“We deal with problems - this is a societal thing too - and condemn them when they happen, but then, when we have the opportunity to legislate for them, we don't.
“I mean, we postpone making decisions, we postpone finding solutions and then we find ourselves in the exact same position again.
“We need to tackle this once and for all and it's a society thing, it’s not just the GAA.”
'Striking a child'
He said society needs to “call out” any adult that enters the pitch during a child’s sports game.
“I don't think any grown man would go into a public area and brag about striking a child,” he said. “That's what we have here.
“We have to call out this and say, if somebody goes in the field and interferes physically with a child - whether it is a push, a shove or a strike - there's no acceptable level of violence; absolutely none.
“We have to call out these people and say to them, are you the person who went in and struck a child during the game and how proud do you feel about yourself?”
Action
Mr O’Neill said there are some “very obvious” actions the GAA can take to stamp out violent scenes like that seen in Waterford this week.
He said the organisation needs to foster a culture change that ensures nobody ever steps on the field except for the players.
“In American football, you can have 100 people on each sideline and nobody steps on the field – nobody, because that's the culture,” he said.
“You just don't do it and those people are huge athletes, but they behave themselves because they know there are consequences.
“We have to bring about a situation where people who step onto a pitch get punished. The problem in our disciplinary system is that there are too many ways of getting off.”
Zero tolerance
He also called on the organisation to ban clubs that can’t control people at their venue from hosting home games.
“We have to stop tolerating people who misbehave,” he said.
“People will make excuses for them. They’ll say, ‘Oh, sure, he's a great fella, he’s absolutely dedicated but you know what? Sometimes he loses his head on the sideline.’
“My answer to that is, ‘No, that's not acceptable. If he is a great fella, let him behave.’
“How you behave on the sideline is how you really are. If you lose your head on the sidelines, you are a person who has anger management problems – and that has to be called out."
Mr O’Neill said the GAA must take a ‘zero tolerance’ approach in future, noting that, ‘there’s no acceptable level of violence and that’s the message that has to get out there.’
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