Number of Clare referees may fall

THERE are fears in Clare GAA this week that the already small pool of referees is about to get smaller.
Abuse from team mentors and some recent decisions by the County Hearings Committee (CHC) to overturn suspensions imposed by the CCC on foot of referees’ reports are believed to be the main concerns.

Two weeks ago, referee Jack Chaplin was forced to abandon the Junior C Hurling Championship semi-final between Clarecastle and Feakle because “he feared for his safety”.

Before he decided to call a halt to proceedings with just under 10 minutes remaining, Chaplin had been subjected to verbal abuse from the sideline.

It is understood that fines of €1,500 for Clarecastle and €1,000 for Feakle have been proposed.

Meanwhile, the decision of the CHC last week to rescind the red card dished out to Kilmurry Ibrickane’s Paul O’Connor was a major talking point at GAA games over the weekend.

O’Connor was shown a straight red card in the early minutes of the recent Cusack Cup final. On Friday night he successfully appealed to the hearings committee to have the card rescinded. It is understood that Greg Lyons (St Joseph’s), the player involved in the incident which led to O’Connor’s dismissal, appeared before the CHC as a witness in O’Connor’s case.

Speaking this week, Ger Hoey, the Clare GAA referees administrator, agreed referees have two particular concerns at this time.

“One is the amount of criticism and abuse that is coming from the sideline at both adult and juvenile games. We are also concerned about how the CHC arrive at decisions. One time, the referee’s report was sacrosanct. We advise our members to report as per the rule book and to use the language of the rule book,” he said.

Hoey went on, “The support the referees get from the CCC is very evident. Decisions are reached on the referee’s report but the nature of evidence being taken into account at appeal time is a concern.”

That said, he remains confident that there won’t be a drop-off in the numbers refereeing. “We don’t envisage people giving up on foot of this but the concern is there,” he said.