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THIS WAS A week when those who insist that sport and politics shouldn’t mix were most definitely keeping their heads down.
And not for the fear of flying pyro.
Patrick O’Donovan, the Minister for Sport, made sure the events of last Friday’s Louth derby between Dundalk and Drogheda United would dominate the news cycle.
That could be no bad thing in the long term, even if the immediate circumstances are grim.
The minister had been in great form before kick-off at Oriel Park.
A grant of almost €500,000 from the Community Sports Facility Fund had part-funded a brand new astro turf pitch and state-of-the-art floodlights at one of the storied League of Ireland venues.
He unveiled a plaque and stood alongside Drogheda United co-chairperson Joanna Byrne, a Sinn Féin TD for Louth and the party’s spokesperson on sport, for the ribbon cutting.
Former Kerry GAA star Kieran Donaghy was also in that shot as he is the business development manager of PST Sport, the company which installed the artificial surface. It would later be required to release a statement of its own assuring everyone – future customers included – that O’Donovan was incorrect when he stated that the pyro burns to the pitch risked spreading a fire had it not been for the fire brigade on duty.
After the photo op, the minister et al. took their seats in the stands, just below the press box, and it wasn’t long before the mood changed.
Scores of flares from the away end were launched towards the pitch as the teams arrived for kick-off. At one point a small fire just on the perimeter of the touchline continued to burn as the referee blew his whistle to get the game underway.
Around 18 large marks in the right corner of the pitch were visible throughout. They were assessed at half-time and when Drogheda scored a late equaliser at that end of the pitch, more flares rained down from the away end almost immediately.
This felt orchestrated. Some 51 scorch marks of varying degrees were left in the aftermath.
Those of us covering the game reported on the incidents given the excessive and dangerous use of the pyro. Even in a league where the sight is commonplace, this was eye-catching.
The next morning, though, on O’Donovan’s official Facebook page, there was no mention of the flares and a video of the Dundalk fans lighting their own pyro – safely – was actually used to highlight the vibrant atmosphere.
“Great derby,” was one contributor’s view in the minister’s video.
Maybe that should be no surprise given O’Donovan is a keen GAA fan and posted a video to his Instagram page in 2022 attending a game between his native Limerick and Cork in which the smoke from pyro is clearly visible.
“Great day,” he wrote.
The 42 reported over the weekend about the potential fallout Drogheda United fans could face given a previous ban on Bohemians’ away supporters when one of their own players was struck by a flare thrown from their end in a Dublin derby away to St Patrick’s Athletic.
Gardaí also confirmed that one man in his 20s had been arrested, charged, and was due in court for a public order offence on the Carrick Road outside Oriel Park.
There were mixed reports of a 12-year-old child being treated for burns that were later verified, and on Sunday both clubs involved released a joint statement condemning the actions of those culpable and expressed a shared desire to support authorities.
They were the ones taking the lead on this, providing a considered, reasonable response that stressed the need for “engaging constructively with the FAI disciplinary process”.
The minister then opted for a different approach, and on Monday morning O’Donovan had found his voice.
This is a football story so let’s navigate his week in football parlance.
His first touch was sharp and effective, insisting on RTÉ Radio One that those involved were “gougers” and “hooligans”.
He showed a bit of flair of his own by declaring “a plague on all their houses” as he sought to show he could produce some end product by announcing a pause on all astro turf funding for League of Ireland clubs.
Given the incredible efforts of so many volunteers around the League of Ireland to make their clubs more a centrepiece in communities, this strikes against the very essence of sport’s purpose.
Perhaps the minister felt this was laying a marker down, a la Roy Keane on Marc Overmars.
The minister’s confidence was up, and buoyed by this he continued with his aggressive press.
“People will say the rest of the League of Ireland is going to suffer. The reality is we need upward pressure on the FAI and the League of Ireland to change,” O’Donovan said, although this felt like he was punching down and doing so with glee.
“We cannot have a situation where someone is set on fire. If this continues, it won’t be a pitch I’ll be worried about – it’ll be the death of somebody. I’m not going to tolerate that.”
No right-thinking person would, yet this is when it began to feel more like a personal crusade masquerading as a serious show of political support.
There was an undercurrent of unbridled arrogance seeping through towards an entire demographic of supporter rather than any considered or respectful assessment of the game and its value to people in this country.
The minister may not realise it, but the League of Ireland is forging its own cultural identity and young people are driving the change. It is a special thing to witness up close and an intangible spirit that leaves a very real sense of unity.
The government has been getting on board given its recent €3 million funding for League of Ireland academies, a show of strength, support and ultimately trust that materialised due to the consistent and excellent work of League of Ireland officials.
Some of the Thatcherite language and assertions made about an entire community were deeply worrying, but if the minister does indeed want the League of Ireland to change, then infrastructure improvements are a must for that to happen.
With that in mind, he shouldn’t have any qualms about following that British government’s lead. We’ll remind him that the Taylor Report of the early 1990s changed the face of football there, but that was only possible because of millions of pounds were provided in subsidies and tax relief for infrastructure costs.
If the minister was seeing himself as some kind of midfield general in how he was dealing with this, he actually looked more like the plucky upstart thrown in from the reserves who was eager to put himself about.
Would such a “plague upon their houses” be inflicted on those rugby and GAA supporters around the land who take flares into grounds?
What would O’Donovan do or say if there was to be a repeat of Armagh supporters throwing pyro on the hallowed turf of Croke Park as they did during last summer’s All Ireland SFC quarter-final with Kerry?
Whataboutery can certainly take you down dangerous paths, especially when you throw “GAA brawl” into Google and are met with the kind of results that could give rise to a new phrase for the sporting lexicon: the Gouger Gael.
The minister said it would be “ridiculous” for the FAI to point to their anti-pyro policy because of events last Friday so he probably wouldn’t have had much time for hearing about their campaign from 2023 to try and stamp it out when he met with FAI CEO David Courell and League of Ireland director Mark Scanlon yesterday.
Funding was still paused by this point, yet the minister also appeared fading, and his link-up play with junior minister Charlie McConalogue was faltering. The Fianna Fáil man backed the stance to come down hard on offenders but pointed out his senior colleague had effectively gone on a solo run by pausing funding.
Even the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, felt the need to speak up: “The other clubs should not be penalised for what happened. Obviously people have to be very rigorous and focused in protecting their facilities and this type of behaviour has to be stamped out and clubs have responsibility in that regard but those who are operating well in my view shouldn’t be punished.”
Was this O’Donovan effectively losing the dressing room?
Still, fans do tend to know when they are being mistreated or put at risk and don’t tend to let authorities off the hook, so when the Irish Football Supporters Partnership (IFSP) – which represents both League of Ireland and International fans at various FAI governance mechanisms including General Assembly – released a statement of their own on Wednesday detailing work done to improve safety through meaningful co-operation, the minister really should take note.
The week is not over, of course. The independent Disciplinary Control Unit of the FAI meets today and will determine a suitable punishment. Nobody is denying action needs to be taken on that score, but the minister’s reaction was so far wide of the mark that it has left a far more lasting mark than any pyro.
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