Rory Gallagher

[tiempo]

The tragic case in Tyrone is only relevant because it highlights how unmanageable cancelling people is outside due process, we can only presume the fella was back involved and playing because he was entitled to and it should be of no concern to anyone thereafter unless you have concerns to escalate to relevant authorities

If Jarlath is going to reduce safeguarding processes to whack a mole then everyone is fair game regardless of the rules regs and processes

[Spike]

If Jarlath wanted to bring Domestic Violence issues to the fore within the GAA he has succeeded.

I would say he now knows he has a bigger job on his hands to educate  members and tackle the issue than he first thought.

[ElJeffe]

If Jarlath wanted to bring Domestic Violence issues to the fore within the GAA he has succeeded.

I would say he now knows he has a bigger job on his hands to educate  members and tackle the issue than he first thought.

But there is no domestic issue case ? It's the same as me accusing you of a crime .. the police investigate and no case to answer...

The police were obligated to investigate .. they sent the file .. no case to answer.

Simple.

He has the right to manage or coach ...

[Dubh driocht]

If Jarlath wanted to bring Domestic Violence issues to the fore within the GAA he has succeeded.

I would say he now knows he has a bigger job on his hands to educate  members and tackle the issue than he first thought.

But there is no domestic issue case ? It's the same as me accusing you of a crime .. the police investigate and no case to answer...

The police were obligated to investigate .. they sent the file .. no case to answer.

Simple.

He has the right to manage or coach ...

Investigated by the same PSNI division who decided Katie Simpson had committed suicide. Their record on domestic violence is questionable

[Delgany 2nds]

If Jarlath wanted to bring Domestic Violence issues to the fore within the GAA he has succeeded.

I would say he now knows he has a bigger job on his hands to educate  members and tackle the issue than he first thought.

But there is no domestic issue case ? It's the same as me accusing you of a crime .. the police investigate and no case to answer...

The police were obligated to investigate .. they sent the file .. no case to answer.

Simple.

He has the right to manage or coach ...

Investigated by the same PSNI division who decided Katie Simpson had committed suicide. Their record on domestic violence is questionable

Was it not determined that the CPS did not have enough evidence to prosecute???

[David McKeown]

If Jarlath wanted to bring Domestic Violence issues to the fore within the GAA he has succeeded.

I would say he now knows he has a bigger job on his hands to educate  members and tackle the issue than he first thought.

But there is no domestic issue case ? It's the same as me accusing you of a crime .. the police investigate and no case to answer...

The police were obligated to investigate .. they sent the file .. no case to answer.

Simple.

He has the right to manage or coach ...

Investigated by the same PSNI division who decided Katie Simpson had committed suicide. Their record on domestic violence is questionable

Was it not determined that the CPS did not have enough evidence to prosecute???

With any file received the PPS are obliged to apply a two stage test. Firstly is there enough evidence for a reasonable prospect of securing a conviction. This stage will take into account a large number of factors including the credibility of complainants witnesses etc their conduct in other courts if applicable, their willingness to engage in the trial process and a raft of other factors.

If the PPS concludes the evidential test is met then they apply a public interest test. Is it in the public interest to prosecute.

This test is subject to continual review.

My understanding is the PPS have twice decided that the test is not met. We don't know which element of the test or the reasons for that.

[Franko]

My View:

Firstly it's complex, I don't think there is an simple way through it. But:

His Character -

• There are lots of people ready to comment that RG is unlikable
• Although you have to be cautious about bandwagon jumpers
• I have not heard a lot of people saying he's a lovey sweet guy
• So, I would conclude he may well not the nicest guy around
• But... is that critical?

The accusations -

• The accusations are horrible. If they could be proven, or even shown to be reasonably certain, I would hope all clubs would choose not to work with RG
• Though just because they are made doesn't mean they are true
• These have been investigated by the Gardai, the PSNI, the courts (family), and the DRA
• No conviction or sanction was imposed by any of these bodies
• In fact no charge or even arrest was ever made
• The DRA said there was no case to answer
• The PPS said that there were no grounds for a prosecution
• However, on the other hand, RG has never denied the accusations publicly

The accuser -

• Nicola clearly has personal issues apart from this direct accusation.
• The marriage ended toxically.
• With reference to the family court above. These accusations were considered as part of the custody hearings and yet the court granted RG full custody of the children.
• I hardly need to point out that full custody to a father is relatively rare.
• But that would not give him an excuse, even given a toxic environment, for physically assaulting a woman
• It is wrong to victim blame and women speaking up should be given the benefit of the doubt.
• But with all the investigations reaching conclusions in RG's favour it can't be denied that some doubt has been created.
• The lack of action would make me wonder what corroboration there was, Nicola claimed people were present, surely if they could back up the accusation there would at least have been some action?
• Equally, in no way unless it is proven otherwise, should Nicola's claims be dismissed. Such claims should be taken seriously.
• None of us can know for sure if the accusations are fact, but we can be sure that a young lady is deeply unhappy in life and that she is suffering. We should all wish her the best.
• The single most important thing is that we don't know. We don't know if he subjected her to violence, and we don't know if he didn't.

Jarlath Burns -

• Jarlath Burns has ignored the findings of the DRA
• He has used his position to put pressure on Naas
• Given all the doubt above, how much is not fully known, that would appear an overreach to me
• Is it not hypocritical? he has not intervened against any other individual despite plenty of GAA managers and players actually being convicted of offences in court
• It is hard to see that Burns has made this decision on anything other than social media.
• If his argument is that he doesn't want specifically abusers of women to be in the GAA then I ask if he has written to the club of the Armagh player, that was arrested for indecent assault recently, to be dropped by his club and county?

Work as a manger? -
Minor side comment here. In his statement Gallagher mentioned working as a manger. What is his tax return record on being employed as a manger? Isn't the GAA supposed to be volunteers? His admission of working should really be of interest to the Revenue Commissioners. (as i said complete side point)

Conclusions -

• We do not know if the accusations are fact
• We do know that Nicola is not in a good place and we should all be sympathetic to her
• We simply cannot state with certainty that RG has done anything to mean he does not deserve a coaching role in the GAA.
• But all investigations, including GAA, have cleared him and I don't think we have anything more to go on than to accept the findings of those with the detailed information.
• In my opinion he should not therefore be denied the opportunity to work unless other information can be proven
• This is the simplest one - In my opinion Jarlath Burns was out of order, going against his own DRA findings and singling out an individual. It was an abuse of his position and laced with hypocrisy

Finally, I do not think highly of him. I would tend to believe that there is at least some partial value in the accusations. I am drawn towards thinking that whatever happened, he was unlikely to have treated he kindly in their relationship. I don't think I would want to be associated with him. But I can't say there is any solid reason for preventing hm for taking a role he is offered.

Independent of all of that, with RG being cleared by the DRA, I think Jarlath Burns was very wrong.

Always good to get the ChatGPT perspective

[ck]

You miss a few points.

The court case collapsed as Mrs Gallagher was in no fit state to give evidence. As a result, the court gave custody to RG.
The question I have is why the poor woman developed an alcohol problem in the first place and why she couldnt even stay sober for her kids custody hearing. Had she, she'd have been awarded custody I'm told.

A lot of people stating that RG has denied all allegations. Fact is, he never has denied them, he simply pointed to the fact that he hasnt been charged. Remember, all charges were dropped as his wife couldn't give evidence.

A very sad case and my sympathy goes out to Mrs. Gallagher. I hope she recovers.

[JoG2]

You miss a few points.

The court case collapsed as Mrs Gallagher was in no fit state to give evidence. As a result, the court gave custody to RG.
The question I have is why the poor woman developed an alcohol problem in the first place and why she couldnt even stay sober for her kids custody hearing. Had she, she'd have been awarded custody I'm told.

A lot of people stating that RG has denied all allegations. Fact is, he never has denied them, he simply pointed to the fact that he hasnt been charged. Remember, all charges were dropped as his wife couldn't give evidence.

A very sad case and my sympathy goes out to Mrs. Gallagher. I hope she recovers.

So there was a court case, and then it collapsed. Never knew that. You should have popped along months ago with all the facts, would have saved page upon page of speculation.

[Wildweasel74]

Why does anybody develope a alcohol problem, I could say the same about a few members of my family, hence why I drink very seldom.

[Silver hill]

Why does anybody develope a alcohol problem, I could say the same about a few members of my family, hence why I drink very seldom.

Strange post.
Not sure an a problem with alcohol is something that one would intentionally nurture?

[Substandard]

I should probably steer back to the alcohol thread, but anyway.  I think there is a generational change in alcohol patterns- it doesn't have the same fascination for teens now as in my time in school.  Back then, there was borderline full families of alcoholics, and I'd have known a fair few married couples who fitted the bill.
It's certainly much rarer now.  I wouldn't know much of the back-story to the Gallagher marriage,  but a lot of what I've read would suggest that Gallagher was/is some sort of control freak, and that very probably drove her, or at least exacerbated the situation.
What Jarlath Burns did is an interesting debate.  A lot of similarities with Michael D- procedure and using status/ position to exert influence,  and doing what you think is right.  There are many ways of looking at things, whether they are right or wrong, and whether they should or shouldn't.  One of the things I disliked about Twitter/ X was, to my mind, it created a situation where people had to reduce their arguments to 140 characters.  Maybe I'm arseways wrong, but I think over time it had created an environment where a lot of people seem to have lost the ability to process contrasting points of view, and instead gravitate to more extreme views too easily.  Hence the Trumps, Andrew Tates, McGregors and so on of this world seem to attract such a following, no matter how outrageous their statements or actions.  Indeed, that has become a marketing tool for them.
I went off on a tangent, and then took a few turns.  I'm very lost now!!

[quit yo jibbajabba]

Me too

[tbrick18]

You miss a few points.

The court case collapsed as Mrs Gallagher was in no fit state to give evidence. As a result, the court gave custody to RG.

Do you mean a court case on child custody? If so, I haven't seen that in the public domain anywhere - but could be true. And to be fair, if she was in no state to attend court or give evidence, she'd be in no state to look after kids. As far as I'm aware there has been no court case on the abuse allegations.

The question I have is why the poor woman developed an alcohol problem in the first place and why she couldnt even stay sober for her kids custody hearing. Had she, she'd have been awarded custody I'm told.

I've seen this type of comment a few times now, suggesting Nicola Gallagher became an alcoholic because of RG - I know you didn't say this explicitly but its the inference I take from your comment. With some knowledge of recovering alcoholics, they will say they were not made an alcoholic, they were born one. Its a personality disorder that leaves them predisposed to that addictive behaviour and then they look for excuses for the why. When drinking, they will rarely say they are drinking because they want to - there's is usually a reason like a bad day, or depressed, or thought it would them feel more confident. That's not my insight, I'm just repeating what I've been told by recovering alcoholics. I don't know if it's the same for everyone and not suggesting this is the case for Nicola Gallagher - just stating what I've been told in the past.
I do think no-one can say with any certainty what "caused" Nicola Gallagher to become an alcoholic. She may not even know herself, and she may genuinely believe it was because of RG. But....she has to take some responsibility for that herself too. Plenty of people have been in abusive relationships without resorting to drink or drugs - that is still a personal choice to turn to drink/drugs. While she will not want to be an alcoholic, it doesn't sound like she has made that step to sobriety (yet?), and if that's the only thing stopping her having her kids it doesn't paint her in a great light in terms of a social services view.

A lot of people stating that RG has denied all allegations. Fact is, he never has denied them, he simply pointed to the fact that he hasnt been charged. Remember, all charges were dropped as his wife couldn't give evidence.

Did he not deny them in that recent letter in response to JB getting involved?
And the fact is, our legal system has the presumption of innocence unless proven guilty in court. It's not perfect, but it's what we have and we have to live by that even if we don't like the outcome sometimes.

A very sad case and my sympathy goes out to Mrs. Gallagher. I hope she recovers.

100% agree.
The woman is obviously in a very bad place. The children are growing up in the middle of this entire mess and will have a ringside seat to the online vitriol against their father, and in some cases their mother. You wouldn't wish it on your worst enemy.

[NotedObserver]

Were most people not aware of the stories prior to her post on social media?