Last night's GAA-themed Late Late Show was mostly like an episode of Up For The Match in January, but it did close with an in-depth interview with GAA President Jarlath Burns on a host of controversies.
In the prerecorded segment, Burns made his first public comments about his controversial intervention into Rory Gallagher's appointment as a coach with Naas GAA Club.
Gallagher last week had threatened Burns with legal action after the GAA president emailed the Naas club chairman regarding the mooted appointment, which the club subsequently backtracked on.
Burns told Patrick Kielty last night:
"I wouldn't be true to myself, as the person whose number one job is to protect the values of the GAA, if I didn't at least point out to somebody somewhere that I had reservations.
"Once they decided what they were going to do, that was none of my business anymore. But remember, that was a private correspondence that I entered into."
Gallagher had been accused of domestic abuse by his ex-partner before the 2023 Ulster final. After an investigation, the GAA's Disputes Resolution Authority said Gallagher was clear him to coach again last February.
In a statement issued last week, Gallagher's lawyers said the former Derry manager "firmly and steadfastly denied his guilt and refuted all the allegations levelled against him".
They added: "Despite having engaged with due process and procedure, it seems clear that the President has now opted to take matters into his own hands."
Kielty has hard questions for Jarlath Burns
Kielty did put a number of difficult questions to Burns about his role - or lack thereof - in two other major GAA controversies: the allegations that followed the Armagh trip to Miami last year, and Kyle Hayes case.
Kielty asked why Burns had intervened in the Gallagher situation in Naas but not with Kyle Hayes, who was convicted on two counts of violent disorder in 2023 and received a two-year suspended sentence last March. Hayes went on to win an All-Star in 2024 for Limerick.
Burns said "he had full confidence in the Limerick county board and in John Kiely the manager to pick the best team he can and then for the GAA journalists to pick the All-Stars after that."
When pressed by Kielty, he also said Gallagher's role as a coach - unlike Hayes's role as a player - helped explain his intervention.
PK: But if you're looking at that, and there's a case with no charges that you got involved in, and case and a conviction where you haven't. Can you see why people....?"
JB: "There is a difference between a player who comes under the influence of a coach, and a coach under whose influence the players lie. I think that's a massive difference. As I have said, nobody is saying that the road is not there for Rory to come back and coach in the GAA. I have said that clearly."
Kielty did not let the matter pass.
PK: So there is a difference between a senior player being convicted of something and a senior manager being accused of something? Do you think?"
JB: I think there is. When you are a manager you are imbuing your worldview, your values onto a team. You are the adult...[there are] impressionable young men, who are coming under your influence. You can train with a senior team when you're 17, 18. That's very young.
On the Armagh situation, Burns said, "it is not the time for me to speak about this, yet. When the time does come, I will speak about it."
He added that "some of the best minds in the country" in the GAA are involved in the Critical Incident Team he set up to deal with the matter, and he clarified that his connections to Armagh meant he had to remove himself from the GAA's investigation.
There was plenty of praise for Kielty - who was gentle but firm in his questioning - for the interview. Not everyone will agree with Burns' reasoning for intervening, but at least we know his thinking now. This was public service broadcasting that was important.
Fair play to Patrick Kielty, he could’ve kept that interview light and fluffy - but he pressed Jarlath Burns about the Armagh incident in New York, the email re Rory Gallagher to Naas and Kyle Hayes. #GAA #LateLateShow pic.twitter.com/AJYGjDawVG
— Barry Jones ® (@getoffthehill) January 17, 2025
You can watch the full interview here.