A GAA referee who was allegedly assaulted during an underage football match in Clare on Monday evening, is set to officiate a game in the county tonight.
John O'Connell, was reportedly assaulted during an under 15 game in Kilrush, which he suffered a cut lip, having ended up on the ground, surrounded by a number of people on the pitch. The match was between Kilrush-Killimer and Lissycasey.
Footage of this incident went viral on social media, and shows Mr O'Connell being assisted off the ground and escorted away from the pitch.
Gardaí have since said they received a report of an incident in Kilrush, where they said an assault was committed, causing a man in his 50s and a youth to suffer injuries.
According to RTÉ, Clare GAA were contacted about this incident, with chairperson, Kieran Keating saying that he was "very disappointed" over this altercation, while adding that "so much has been done to improve behaviour on the pitch.
At the time of writing, the Clare County Board said they wanted to ascertain as much information as possible before they decide what they will do next, and that they had not received the referee's report.
According to quotes from RTÉ, Mr Keating said: "There had been a couple of sendings off and a little bit of an altercation, that's probably too small a word for it, but we'll call it that for now.
"John ended up on the ground and a number of players and mentors as we understand it were around him - to protect him from any assault. He sustained an injury to his lip, helped up off the ground and walked off the field. We will review the footage and talk to those witnessed it and make our findings based on that".
"John got a cut to his lip, whether that was assault or what I can't say until we get the full details. Certainly there was an altercation of some sort and that's what we will be investigating. Hopefully we will have findings and if there was an infraction we will punish the culprits".
Elsewhere, Kieran Keating said that John O'Connell is in "good form" and that he is pencilled in to referee a game this evening.
"That's good news that he wants to get back on the horse, as they say, and do what many referees do for us, week in, week out", he said. "It is a bitter step backwards when any mentor, player, parent or supporter commits any infraction upon a referee..".
Going forward, Mr Keating also highlighted the two strand approach.
"As for the civil side, if the Gardai decide that there is criminal activity or civil disobedience, the Gardai will process that as they do. That may take quite a bit of time", he said, as per RTÉ.
"In the meantime we will follow our procedures in dealing with infractions. These type of infractions against referees and officials are the most heinous in our books aside from child welfare issues and are treated with quite a penally in our codes".
