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We have a good few here calling for a complete change of county board. I'll play devil's advocate and ask who do these people suggest take over. A full executive top to bottom. Not too many legends sticking their heads above the parapet to take on any jobs in there. The chairman's position for instance requires them to be in OMP 6 days a week and that's with trying to hold down a job too. That's just one position. Have a scout around and see how many people you can get to do the various jobs. And before anyone says it I am not nor never have been on the Co board I've helped out with a few thins and see what a struggle it is to get people in

People tend to be inspired by leaders. You're right; we don't appear to have a Duignan type figure amongst us. But Offaly are not struggling any more, and they were, just like us. There's a reason for that, a very clear and obvious reason.

People will donate their time and money when they believe in the cause. Not many have faith in what we're doing at the moment. It's gone stale. In fact it's hard to imagine how much worse it could be. If that's not a reason to change, I don't know what is. We're not talking about change for changes sake or because we don't like the people. This isn't personal. We're talking about change because we are in brutal condition and we badly need leadership. It probably should have happened years ago because let's face it, our current mess is a long time in the making.

We'll never get answers. In fact we're not even supposed to ask the questions. That's how we operate in Laois, and that in itself is pitiful. The lads in LT offer a great service, but they're hamstrung by everyone's inertia and their close friendships. I won't pay for the LT service because as good as it is, they might as well be talking or writing about 10 great things to do in Spink. No disrespect to Spink. First place that I could think of. It's just not worth paying for. There's not enough going on and the serious questions never get asked, particularly of those in the CB. We just need to flip the whole thing on its head. Be more transparent and run Laois games for the people of Laois and not just the chosen few. Just my opinion

No harm in being positive. But as someone whose opinion interests me, I'm sure you've seen the drop off in standards, particularly at club level. We're at a seriously low ebb here, and I accept your point about your Seniors being your flagship. That is why what's happening now isn't healthy for us. We're doing a lot of harm. It's counter productive to send out teams for this sort of humiliation. Supporters won't buy into that. Neither will the players or in fact future players. We need to get our house in order before we have the humiliation of not being able to field a team at short notice.

I'm surprised by your post OTH. 2 things. Did you not see this coming? And, with all due respect to any player, I don't think it matters who isn't there next year. What we need to fix won't be done so this year or next. In fact based on our current standing it's meaningless. We don't have the players (now) to fix this. Hopefully we will in the future, but things need to change

This is about as bad as it gets, and yes, they will get rid of Billy. I'm of the opinion that we could put a cardboard box on the line and we should still be beating London; but we didn't, so draw your own conclusions on that one.

I have sympathy for Billy. This County means a lot to him. He was eager and he genuinely wanted the job. There are plenty in Laois and elsewhere who swerved it because they know how bad things are, and were eager to keep their own, overly inflated reputations intact. Truth be told, Sugrue aside, there is nobody in the County remotely good enough to be even asked in my opinion. Some will disagree and good luck to them, but without going into specifics about individuals, I felt one who is lauded on here got badly found out in the last few years when he arguably had one of our better teams at his disposal.

It stings people in Meath. It means something. We have gone the other way, with Carlow and Wicklow. We'll settle for a very rare day in the sun. We're sending out under prepared teams across all grades in both codes. Mostly to be taught a lesson at some point. It's madness. And nobody cares. Not the GAA. Not the media. And not the CB. Demoralising and downright shameful. Personally I'd be happy if we didn't bother our arse. We're doing more harm than good at the moment

I was shocked to read that Joe Brolly was planning to boycott the Ulster Final if RG was there. Isn't or wasn't he a barrister? I'm sure he's had to defend some unsavoury characters

You have to open your wallet to get them to park their morals.

Those of us who practice criminal defence work are almost always asked how do you defend someone you know is guilty. I don't think any of us do it for the money. There are far more lucrative types of work.

Our role is to ensure that every person is entitled to a fair trial and everyone is entitled to have their case made in the best possible way. Our job is not to assess the guilt or innocence of the defendant. That's a job for the judge or jury. If someone confessed to us we can not plead them not guilty. Similarly we can't plead someone guilty if they don't accept the offence. Our job is to test the evidence and to advise defendants on both the strength of that evidence and the law. How they want a trial to be conducted is entirely up to them (within reason).

Great post and good to get clarification

[Eddie Brennan@NedzerB13·19 MayWhat's changed in Offaly??Looks like the top table drove standards & leadership underage teams in both codes are delivering silverware consistently in a short space of time Very impressive]

Eddie Brennan
@NedzerB13
·
19 May
What's changed in Offaly??
Looks like the top table drove standards & leadership underage teams in both codes are delivering silverware consistently in a short space of time
Very impressive

It remains to be seen if he'll even be charged. It remains to be seen if he can be charged; statute of limitations, lack of evidence, witness statements etc. That's how far back we are. Obviously nobody can condone domestic violence, but until we  allow due process to be followed, we simply cannot and must not declare him guilty until he legally is.

As for a trial, there's a long road to travel before we get to that point. I agree tbrick. It would be very difficult to find 12 people who are impartial and generally unaware of the case

What role would the statute of limitations play here?

When did the alleged offences take place? I think the victim has 6 months to make a complaint and 2 years overall to get a prosecution. It seems a narrow enough window, particularly if the victim wasn't in a position (for whatever reason) to make a complaint. My gut feeling is that RG will never be prosecuted, but I don't know the timeline or extenuating circumstances. In fact I know very little about it all. There will be so much more to the case than what has been made public

It remains to be seen if he'll even be charged. It remains to be seen if he can be charged; statute of limitations, lack of evidence, witness statements etc. That's how far back we are. Obviously nobody can condone domestic violence, but until we  allow due process to be followed, we simply cannot and must not declare him guilty until he legally is.

As for a trial, there's a long road to travel before we get to that point. I agree tbrick. It would be very difficult to find 12 people who are impartial and generally unaware of the case

There are many good reasons for him to stay quiet. He still has custody of the children remember. Does he really want to get into a public tit for tat? Notwithstanding that, if he's charged anc prosecuted based on fresh evidence or whatever, then there's only one side we can fall down on. Until then, it's speculation and/or hearsay

If everyone on Instragram believed he was a satanist, that would be speculation.
If his ex wife makes a statement which is backed up by a witness it isn't speculation.

To use that same argument, if hypothetically RG posted online that his ex wife was an absolute liar and one of his friends wives publicly agreed, would that make it fact?

Again, not condoning DV and if guilty it should be a jail sentence. But just because someone says it, doesn't necessarily make it true. There also needs to be more "proof" for want of a better word. But it seems on social media, someone only has to say it for it to be true.
That's the only issue I have with the whole affair.

It's not just about declaring something. The reaction of people is based on how plausible  both parties are and how they respond. Did he deny what she said ?
Ultimately it comes down to credibility. Lack of credibility is what caused him to resign. Blaming it on Social media is deflection. He realised that there was a hole in his credibility.

You're speculating. Do you know for sure lack of credibility caused him to resign? If you do, and it's common knowledge, has the investigation been reopened? Has he been charged? Has he lost the kids? Thankfully the law deals in facts and not speculation. If he's guilty, genuinely guilty, lock him up and throw away the key. Until then, he retains the presumption of innocence

The possibility of RG ever getting a fair trial is shot to pieces by all the commentary around this case. I was shocked to read that Joe Brolly was planning to boycott the Ulster Final if RG was there. Isn't or wasn't he a barrister? I'm sure he's had to defend some unsavoury characters

There are many good reasons for him to stay quiet. He still has custody of the children remember. Does he really want to get into a public tit for tat? Notwithstanding that, if he's charged anc prosecuted based on fresh evidence or whatever, then there's only one side we can fall down on. Until then, it's speculation and/or hearsay

No your point is fair and likely it will always be the case. Personally I believe it could be a whole lot better. The system as it stands promotes dominance and predictability. They can tweak it all they want but the weak will invariably stay weak

After reaching the pinnacle of club football and becoming multi millionaires? You mean those poor unfortunates?

No, but as importantly, I won't label him a wife beater