Armagh v Derry - Ulster Final, 14th May, 2023 @ 4pm

[square_ball]

What's Malachy O'Rourke doing this weekend?

Stay. Away.

Yeah he'll be getting the Tyrone job shortly so keep away.

[seafoid]

It doesn't need a criminal conviction, [or indeed even an allegation of criminal conduct], for the county board to take any action deemed reasonable to address behaviour which reflects negatively on the team, board, county or association.

Indeed the weight of evidence for an employer [as I assume Derry Co Board are in this instance] to take action is less than that required for a criminal conviction, i.e. on the balance of the evidence as opposed to beyond reasonable doubt.

I would imagine any employee in a public role, facing allegations such as these, could reasonably expect to face suspension from that role until the allegations are investigated by the employer, and then shown either to be false and the suspension lifted, or subsequently dismissed if they are then proven on balance to have merit.

The fact that the allegations have not been addressed directly to the county board is a complicating factor but given the widespread dissemination of the allegations there is no way they can ignore it.

As a massive Derry fan I would take losing on Sunday without RG on the line rather than winning with him present given the nature and seriousness of these allegations.

Whether they are subsequently disproven is another matter for the future.

They are not an employer but that's beside the point they will run him now anyway.

He will probably be encouraged to leave.

[Eire90]

if its true will he be banned from a role in any club teams.

[LC]

Due to the severity of the accusations and the high profile of the accused and the match this weekend I believe any decisions made in the next 24 hours will be beyond the control of the County Board.  I would imagine the Croke Park PR / Media department have been assessing the situation since it broke and as such Croke Park will give clear instruction what needs to be done and no doubt it will be Croke Park that will be drafting any subsequent statement issued by the County Board.  There will be a lot of eyes on this both inside and outside of the GAA and this will not be lost on Croke Park.

[greatpoint]

This should be locked down talk about the game ok not online rumours,social media isn't the best place to start this,this should been done through proper channels years ago,close the thread

Hilarious thing for a Derry supporter to say given the context

[seafoid]

You can only admire the bravery of Ms Gallagher for writing what she did. It can't have been easy to confront that history and come out the other side.

[Wildweasel74]

Well I see a no of other what app messages in relation to what was posted, so I just wait see what put to the garda.police.None of this came up on custody matters few yrs bck?, RG can't be on the line Sunday so it be Muldoon and Meenagh. It not go away short term either, so I be approaching O'Rourke after Sunday.

[Sportacus]

He should be stood down.  Giving him the option (or the time) of stepping aside isn't proactive and the GAA has to be unequivocal on violence against women.  Indeed sadly Armagh GAA have supported a family on this very issue. 
Then let due process take its course and if he's innocent he's innocent, and if he's guilty he's guilty and can face the consequences of the law.

[Eire90]

would it be security risk to have him managing the game on sunday.

[jmk]

At this stage the veracity of the allegations is irrelevant in relation to what the Derry County Board have to do, they have to stand him down simply because these allegations are out there in such a public way. There are plenty of examples of people being stood down in similar circumstances in many walks of life.
They will come under pressure from Croke Park to deal with this quickly as well.
Even from a pragmatic point of view, can you imagine how ugly the scenes could get on Sunday if he is on the line- Croke Park will simply not allow that scenario to develop and be front page headlines.

What if there is no police investigation?
Should he be removed based on social media posts? I can certainly see a case to suspend if there is an ongoing police investigation, but if it's just social media then where does it stop?
Anyone can say anything about anyone online. I could go online now and make some false accusations about the Armagh manager. Should Armagh county board suspend him until that's investigated?

In the absence of official police investigations, online posts should be ignored in all walks of life in my opinion as it could all be nonsense.
That's not taking away from what I'd expect to happen to a perpetrator of such an attack or how a victim should be treated, I simply think we can't let online social media be the source of truth that gets taken seriously.

If there is no police investigation that will cause a difficulty and I would have thought the PSNI/Garda would be pressed to justify such a decision.
On your point that anybody could post accusations- this is not just anybody, this is his ex-wife and the accusations are very specific.

[Armagh18]

would it be security risk to have him managing the game on sunday.

It's probably something worth considering, always risk of someone shouting something on, someone else reacting and maybe a row happening in the stand, or someone throws something or god knows whag else could happen. Either way he shouldnt be there

[Eire90]

someone could look to play the community hero white knight type

[LeoMc]

Well I see a no of other what app messages in relation to what was posted, so I just wait see what put to the garda.police.None of this came up on custody matters few yrs bck?, RG can't be on the line Sunday so it be Muldoon and Meenagh. It not go away short term either, so I be approaching O'Rourke after Sunday.

I saw screenshots of a few Whatsapp messages. Whilst disparaging her, none of them contradict what she said. If anything they support what she is saying.

In all of this, I have seen no one defend RG saying it would be out of character.

[clarshack]

someone could look to play the community hero white knight type

There'd bound to be at least one wannabe hero so it's definitely not a good idea for him to be in Clones on Sunday.

[maggie]

I would think any man who would treat you like that/but you can't leave or get away from- then turning to or becoming reliant on alcohol would be a coping mechanism or a way to try and block it out.

Plus it's a very coherent and detailed post from someone who is allegedly on a 7 day bender or drunk.

I feel for the children in this situation-not sure what ages they are but if they are at the age to use social media themselves, they will no doubt be made aware of all this.