Shock as GAA stalwart who quit in ‘ride’ row is made club’s referee
THE GAA county chairman who resigned last year after the Irish Mail on Sunday revealed he told a referee to ‘ride’ a club during a game, was this week appointed to referee a match involving the same club.
Peter O’Halloran quit as Meath GAA chairman after the MoS revealed WhatsApp messages he sent a referee telling him he was going to send him to ‘ride’ the team.
However, when the Slane club noticed he was scheduled to referee their division 4a minor match, they contacted county officials and Mr O’Halloran was dropped. He stepped down as chairman in September last year after it emerged he had told referee Patrick Nelis to ‘ride’ Slane in April 2017.
This followed incidents in a game between Slane and O’Halloran’s Drumconrath team.
After a complaint by Mr Nelis the Meath board requested the Leinster council investigate. Although it ruled ‘the contents of the message fell short of the principles… in the GAA governance guide’, no action was taken against Mr O’Halloran because the complaint was made outside the 96-day time limit.
This week’s incident brought the issue back to the fore with Slane locals describing it as a ‘slap in the face’. ‘The big question though is why Peter didn’t refuse the game when he was appointed to do it,’ one source said. ‘I understand that when Slane raised the issue they were told it was a genuine human error and they 100% accepted that.’
Meath county board did not respond to a request for comment.