Not for the first time, I was off when a major story broke last week, quite a few regular readers wondering why I did not mention it on this page. But here's what would have been her had I been here. P.S. I was not away sunning myself; I was on fence-painting duty.
What a can of worms has been opened after Brian Dooher was sent off in his first senior league
competitive game back following a lengthy injury lay-off!
Now let me say there did not appear to be much in the way of controversy surrounding the decis
ion to red-card the player, that straightforward call made by Augher referee Gerard Treanor in the second half of Clan na Gael's first home match two weeks ago against Derrylaughan after an incident involving the Tyrone captain and the Kevin Barrys county minor half-forward Ciaran Gervin.
What happened then roughly went something like this. The suspension was automatically triggered when CCC secretary Roisin Jordan received the referee's report on the Wednesday night and, contrary to what some eye-witness observers expected to be a twelve week suspension for what was allegedly a kicking offence, the county star was only banned for four weeks - obviously in keeping with what the referee deemed him guilty of doing; which must, therefore, have been for a lesser offence than kicking.
The CCC hearings committee - which comprises chairman Mickey Kerr, Carrickmore; vice-chairman Paul Doris, Dungannon; James O'Neill of Clann na Gael who would obviously not be involved on this occasion; Packie O'Neill, Derrytresk; Aidan Scullin, Cookstown; Owen Roe O'Neill, Camowen Hurling Club; Margaret Keenan, Gortin; Sean McElroy, Clogher - arranged an emergency meeting on the Friday night to hear an appeal against the punishment. And, lo and behold, the decision to suspend Dooher was overturned.
But, as far as I can ascertain - with chairman Kerr not replying to my request for clarification of who was present and how the decision was reached - there were only four members in attendance.
Doris was absent as I'm told he was collected envelopes returns for the big parish fundraising drive by the Dean of Dungannon, while O'Neill would obviously have to step down as he had a vested interest, as he actually represents the Clann na Gael club on the committee.
So - what did Dooher do, did he actually deserve to be sent off, was it a refereeing mistake, did it merit a four week ban or greater, was it initially a miscarriage of justice, were there background moves to get his suspension lifted - and did the fact that he is an All-Ireland-winning captain gain him any kind of unfair advantage in the appeals process? There are many questions there and more besides and few people - possibly outside of the player himself - can know the answers to them all.
But the grapevine has been awash with contrasting views and varying opinions ever since the red card incident came to light, - with all sort of insinuations
especially doing the rounds after his appeal was successful.
Not let me make one thing very clear before going any further. Brian Dooher certainly does not deserve any special treatment - but nor does he deserve to be
criticised or pillioried in any way because he has a high profile.
Okay, the fact that he is seen to be really crucial to county boss Mickey Harte's championship plans adds some importance to whether or not he was able to gain valuable match practice in the league with his club, not to mention his inclusion on an important trip to Carton House for training and bonding last weekend - this, maybe ironically, intended to include a match against the Gardai team.
The hearing was very quick, but maybe that is now going to be the standard for appeal hearings -
a 48 hour response time very laudable indeed, if they can do it.
But back to the match and, in addition to the referee deeming it worthy of a straight red dismissal after having booked Dooher in the first half, the Derrylaughan club notes described the incident as 'unsavoury' and PRO Brendan Quinn was playing in the match.
I received a letter on the Monday immediately after the game from a spectator who was present but couldn't use it because it was not properly authenticated.
However, I can refer to it and it stated: 'Off the ball and completely unnecessarily and unprovoked, Dooher kicked a Derrylaughan player, who was lying on the ground from a tackle.'
Various people, some claiming to be eye witnesses, have posted accounts and opinions on a GAA website, a fair share of them very critical of the decision to quash his sentence. But other say that, if the rescinding of the ban was justified, then good luck to him.
There is no real proof offered to back up allegations that there was any kind of interference applied from external sources and, whilst I have been accused of being over-critical of Harte, there is no way I could every imagine him doing anything unethical to free his player, especially as his term will be up long before championship time - this scurrilously suggested by some anonymous posters.
What about the referee brave enough to send off a celebrated footballer? I wonder how he feels about what has then happened? My information is that referees in general are upset by what seems a diminution of their authority.
The bottom line is that Dooher was tried and is deemed an innocent man and it would be wrong of anyone, other than those who saw at first hand what happened in the match, to dispute this fact.
Mickey Kerr didn't respond to my request for a comment.
The full article contains 958 words and appears in Tyrone Times newspaper.
