Spillane: The Dubs let us down badly
KERRY footballing legend Pat Spillane has said he was ‘angry’ to see members of the Dublin GAA senior squad break Covid rules to hold a training session together. However, he reckons ‘a lot of counties are at it’ and just haven’t been caught. So far, the Cork, Down, Dublin, and Monaghan football teams have all been found to have breached the GAA’s training rules, with the managers of each of the teams receiving a 12-week ban. Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, the eight-time All-Ireland winner said he couldn’t believe it when he found out about Dublin’s indiscretion.
‘When I heard the Dubs were breaking the rules, I was stunned,’ he said. ‘With the Dubs, everything is managed. It’s all about protecting the brand.’
‘It’s a bit like the brightest boy in the class suddenly being caught cheating, or you suddenly realise that the local parish priest has a wife and family in the next county. You look up to the Dubs as these are your role models.’
It comes as inter-county GAA training is set to resume on Monday, with the draws for the championship taking place early next week.
Dublin manager Dessie Farrell will be suspended for 12 weeks and a similar punishment will be imposed on Cork manager Ronan McCarthy. There will be an eight-week ban for Down’s Paddy Tally, while Monaghan manager Séamus McEnaney could miss the first round of the Ulster SFC when he is handed down an expected 12-week suspension.
Spillane said it was foolish for Dublin to break the rules, and it made him ‘angry’. But he added: ‘In Ireland, when it comes to cute hoorism, and whataboutery, we’re world champions. It was wrong. It was bad, it broke the laws of the country and GAA regulations. The GAA season hasn’t started yet, inter-county training hasn’t started yet, but four of our top managers are suspended and justifiably so.’