Dublin manager Dessie Farrell unlikely to face any further sanction from GAA

Dubs ban manager for three months over training breach after ‘serious error’

Dublin GAA players at the secret training session, including Brian Howard (on right in blue t-shirt)

Colm Keys Twitter Email

April 02 2021 02:30 AM

Dessie Farrell is likely to face no further sanction over a training breach by the Dublin football squad early on Wednesday morning.

The All-Ireland champions held a collective session at their winter training base, Innisfails GFC, that contravened State and GAA rules, photographic evidence of which subsequently appeared in the Irish Independent.

The coverage prompted a quick response from the GAA which expressed its “frustration and extreme disappointment” at the development and indicated that an investigation would follow.

Pre-empting that, Dublin’s Management Committee went ahead and suspended Farrell for three months, a penalty consistent with what Cork’s Ronan McCarthy received for a similar breach at the beginning of January.

A Dublin statement added that “the senior football management and players recognise that this was a serious error of judgment and apologise unreservedly for their actions”.

Despite Dublin’s breach happening just 12 hours on from a statement from the GAA that stressed how such breaches could jeopardise the further roll-out of activity, and that it came at a time when it was clear that even the State did not permit such a session, it is thought unlikely to warrant a further sanction.

The indications are that Dublin’s suspension of Farrell will apply and the GAA’s Management Committee, which will oversee any further investigation, will strip home advantage for at least one league game from them in the upcoming campaign.

Last year the GAA made it clear at a meeting of county chairpersons that any training breach would be the responsibility of the chairperson and manager of the county involved.

But both Cork and Down chairs avoided that sanction and the managers were left to shoulder the responsibility instead.

The 2020 inter-county competitions will not be under threat because of the breach but any further confirmed violations between now and April 19, when the season officially gets under way, could prompt the GAA to look at those games in a different light, it is understood.

The GAA again implored its units to observe the current guidelines.

“While we acknowledge that the overwhelming majority of counties and clubs have complied in an appropriate and responsible way with the restrictions currently in place, we once again call on our members and units to uphold the integrity of the Association as part of our ongoing efforts to play our role in thwarting the virus and ensuring a return to activity when it is safe to do so.”