Most fair minded people will applaud the strong action taken by the Leinster Council of the GAA in response to what has been termed "five minutes of madness " at Parnell Park when the Dublin and Offaly under 21 teams engaged in a running battle. The verdicts are unprecedented in their severity; Dublin has been removed from this year's under 21 championship and both teams have been removed from next year's championship. A number of suspensions ranging from two ears to three months have been imposed and the Dublin manager has been suspended for one year.
The GAA, no doubt, will hope that this firm action will deflect criticism from the real issues; how have events reached this terrible pass? And why is it that violent play has now become virtually an integral part of Gaelic football at parish, county and inter county level? The problem of violent play is not a new one, but it would appear that the incidence of such conduct and its viciousness has increased in recent years. For its part, the GAA is vulnerable to the criticism that it has been far too lenient in its response. The reaction of the GAA president, Mr Jack Boothman, to the shameful scenes at last year's all Ireland final replay between Mayo and Meath, is sadly typical. In attempting to explain the melee, Mr Boothman remarked that "there is a latent violence in Irish society." He later sought to recover some lost ground by condemning the savagery of the incidents, but the damage was done; the most senior figure in the GAA hierarchy appeared to be not unduly bothered about violent play.
The subsequent failure of the GAA authorities to impose realistic penalties on those responsible for the all Ireland fracas compounded the difficulties. Violent play, it appeared, was seen by the GAA hierarchy as part of what we are. In some GAA circles, those who opposed it were and still are derided as fussy types with little understanding of robust, manly competition.
That said, it would be foolhardy to believe that the kind of firm action taken by the Leinster Council this week will provide some kind of panacea for the problem of violent play. A much wider range of issues needs to be addressed by the GAA. The need to introduce cumulative bookings and a clearly defined, and well understood, series of punitive measures for each disciplinary offence, appears obvious.
The long standing problem with the rules of the game, which still fail to distinguish adequately between robust and violent play, must also be addressed. A sustained effort to raise the standards of refereeing is also essential patchy and inconsistent refereeing is not unique to Gaelic games but the extent of the problem is surely a cause for concern.
It is to be hoped that the GAA will address all of these issues in a serious and open minded way. The association is often much too defensive in its approach to legitimate criticism - some in Croke Park may even now believe that the current controversy about violent play is overblown. But there is, assuredly, a real problem which requires serious, long term attention.