A chara, – People who wish to undertake certain work or activities relating to children are Garda-vetted for the protection of those children and vulnerable persons under the National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012. The GAA has implemented Garda vetting in the association to promote best practice in the recruitment and selection of people to work with children in the GAA.
Yet a man who was found guilty of an unprovoked assault in a pub causing his victim a fractured eye-socket was ordered by a District Court judge to attend an anger-management course and was further ordered to spend 80 hours teaching Gaelic football to children ("Judge orders GAA star to coach children", Home News, May 8th).
Would the punishment have been different if the culprit was a teacher instead of a famous Dublin footballer? – Is mise,
AIFRIC MURRAY,
Dungarvan,
Co Waterford.
Sir, – Working with children should never be a “sentence”. Does the GAA have any say in the matter? – Yours, etc,
MICHELE SAVAGE,
Glendale Park,
Dublin 12.