Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
TWO-THIRDS OF referees leave within two years due to the scale of abuse they receive, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has said.
The Oireachtas sports committee heard “stark” evidence from representatives from Ireland’s largest sporting organisations about the level of abuse that referees often face.
Politicians heard that referees have been physically attacked, intimidated and threatened as part of their work at games across the country.
Gerard Perry, chair of the FAI referee committee, told the committee: “Retention of referees remains an issue and the escalating abuse of match officials does not help in this regard.”
“Anecdotally we lose 66% of new referees within the first two years of them completing the referee beginner’s course. Exit interviews inform us that ‘referee abuse’ is the main reason for them stopping.”
That figure came amid a broader discussion at the committee about the abuse of referees across GAA, rugby and football.
Perry told the committee that refereeing numbers in the organisation fell from 1,400 to 1,200 between 2015 and 2020.
Those figures, he said, have now improved.
“At the start of 2021 we had 1,211 registered referees and that figure has already grown to 1,430 referees today after 581 recruits to the online course.”
Representatives of other sporting organisations and referee groups acknowledged abuse remains a problem, with the prevalence of anonymous commentary on social media partially blamed.
Tom Ryan, director-general of the GAA, pointed to a wider culture that sees the abuse of referees as permissible.
“The real job for us, and it is a difficult one, is about the culture that surrounds the entire game,” he told the committee.
He said the organisation has 3,000 referees and match officials across football and hurling.
“There is a pervading climate among those who watch and report on our games, and more significantly those anonymous commentators on discussion forums and social media, to persistently pass judgment.”
Donal Smyth, the national match officials manager at the GAA, said he knows of “top referees” who have recently endured “awful abuse”.
“When the top referees are getting it, what is happening under-age?”
Dudley Phillips, the head of referees at the IRFU, told the committee: “Unfortunately, abuse of match officials is on the rise, and while rugby has a good reputation for respecting our officials, we are not immune and must continue to take the matter extremely seriously.”
He said abuse is not a regular occurrence at rugby games.
“Sport is one area impacted by what seems to be an increase in abuse in society in general,” he told the committee.
“One only has to look at any of the many social media posts that arise from sport week in, week out to see evidence of this.”
Phillips told the committee that 27 reported cases of abuse have been investigated by the IRFU in the last year, out of 3,500 games at all levels.
Sean Slattery, vice-president of the Irish Soccer Referees Society, spoke about threats of violence against referees.
He said that in 99% of cases, referees are alone at venues.
He told politicians: “The effects of this type of behaviour can be very demoralising for the referee, and when this becomes a regular event, a lot of them decide enough is enough, and they say to themselves that they don’t need this in their lives, and retire from the game.
“Even worse is when assaults occur.
“In Dublin there have been three in the last two months.”
He complained that when cases are reported to gardai, it often takes a significant period of time for any follow-up.
“Maybe the state could help by encouraging a more urgent response from gardai when such assaults, or threats of assault, are reported,” he suggested.
Under-reporting was acknowledged as an issue by all those who appeared before the committee, with all organisations stressing they encourage referees and match officials to make detailed reports of abuse.
Smyth said that at ordinary club games, GAA referees often do not report abuse.
Phillips added: “Referees might say what’s the point. That’s a big worry for me across all sports, if referees have that view.”
Members of the committee were unanimous in their condemnation of abuse and attacks against referees.
Alan Dillon, a Fine Gael TD and former Mayo GAA captain, said: “I have seen first hand the importance sport plays in our lives.”
He said referees “deserve the utmost respect in carrying out their duties”.
Sinn Fein TD Chris Andrews said: “The idea of a 12-month suspension isn’t enough. If someone assaults a referee in a game, there should be a lifetime ban in the sport. It is not acceptable.
“You are not just assaulting a referee, you’re putting everyone off participating in that sport.
“Without real enforcement of sanctions, it’s just going to continue and we’re going to have incidents happening.
“The club has to face a sanction if a referee is abused.”
Perry told the TD there might be legal issues with lifetime bans, but for more complex offences people can be banned for a minimum of three years.
He said there was a recent case where a 40-year ban was handed down.
“There is an opportunity to fine clubs,” he added. “And the association has recently re-formed a welfare group for referees, which is addressing the whole area that you have touched on in relation to punishing clubs more severely.”
Committee chairwoman and Fianna Fail TD Niamh Smyth asked the representatives whether abuse was preventing women becoming referees.
All organisations said they wanted to boost the numbers of female referees and they did not believe abuse was the main deterrent.
Perry said there are around 40-50 female referees in the FAI, out of around 1,500 in total.
He admitted it was “quite low”.
“Female referees are viewed exactly the same way as male referees, except some of the stereotyping around gender, the language often is something stereotypical you would have heard in the past,” he said about the abuse they receive.
“Whether that’s a blockage, I don’t think so. I think it’s to do with the small numbers and us using and finding a way to attract using good role models.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
What about the kitchen ?
The normal reason that tips are divided up is to ensure that all staff members get a share of the tip. Chefs train for five years and make or break an establishment dividing up the share is to ensure that the most skilled people are rewarded as opposed to the the part time person who has no real skills bar carrying a plate.
This is not a new thing tips have always been shared both with the front of house and the back of house. I have seen records dating back two hundred years of a five star hotel with the tip or service charge being shared among the entire team and not just the least skilled person on the team.
Seems like a bill for an industry created by people who do not understand how the industry works.
@brian boru: or we could just pay proper wages so people don’t need to survive on tips. Works well in Australia.
@brian boru: waiters have much more skill than “carrying a plate” it’s not just the chef who will make or break the restaurant it’s a whole team. You need everybody on the same level of skill.
Leave things the way they are. This will open up a can of worms. The goverment will see these tips as a form of income and tax the life out of it.
@luke mc leod: Yea but in comparison to cooking the meal carrying the plate ain’t too tough….sorry and the cutlery – I agree its a team effort that is why the tips are shared among the team and not just the server
@brian boru: would the chef not be on a big salary all ready ?. I don’t think a chef needs to share tips or anyone on a good salary. Tips should be for the waitimg staff who are often part time and on minimum wage.
@brian boru: but would a chef not be on more money than the waiting staff?
@brian boru: but would a chef not be on more money than the waiting staff?
@Declan Mannix: if you wanna be a chef for the money you have to rethink, work 80+ hours a week for your contracted 39 hour salary.
This is a huge movement which has led to restaurants closing two/three days a week to give chefs a break and take down the hours worked
@brian boru: they do more, the wines, the ordering and professionalism to the customer. They always get the wrap of doing f all but in reality their job is tough at times.
@brian boru:
I’ve been a Chef for over 30 years- Tips always went to the waiting staff!
I’ve been Head Chef of many Hotels and Restaurants and never got a share of the tips- occasionally a customer would like to buy the Chef a drink and some regulars did this- but generally Skilled Chefs are paid far more and waiting staff are paid a pittance!
I never had a problem with waiting staff getting the tips!
In fact Waiting staff in the better restaurants and hotels are extremely skilled!
I worked in 2 different 5☆ establishments in Copenhagen as a Chef- the waiting staff had mainly all trained as Chefs for 3 1/2 years and then trained as waiters for 2 1/2 years- 6 years in college and also time in the field- these waiters got the best jobs in the highest class establishments!
Most restaurants now share tips with the kitchen. The problem here is that some owners and management are practically stealing the tips. ” no real skills bar carrying a plate” and “the least skilled person”? You obviously have never worked in the industry and have no clue how it operates really.
The chefs are on good wages brian boru , the wait staff & kitchen porters are not.
@SteveW: Your obviously an idiot if you think that steve
Absolutely The Guru but our government don’t have the balls to raise the minimum wage to a decent level because their friends in business would be up in arms.
Wow name calling. Stay classy Brian lol
@David Grey: well said David Grey, an informed comment. Anyone who thinks the role of the server is irrelevant is an idiot, but it is the most precarious job and if they deliver good service there is no way the employer should interfere. A tip is recognition by the customer of good service, offered voluntarily so that it always represents a job well done
@brian boru: there’s been many times I’ve tipped waiting staff because of the service they’ve provided. I would never tip if the food was great but I got terrible service, and vice versa, I’ve tipped if the food was awful, but the waiting staff was top notch. Chefs and head chefs are on a salary compared to part time minimum wage for waiting staff. Personally I think this is a positive move.
@luke mc leod: Most chefs have made carrying a plate of food very easy this days. They hide behind the scam of fine diner and the customers fool for it everyday.
What about the lads who wash the dishes? Lads on shocking money doing horrible work. I did it for a while. You’re the lowest of the low in there. Chefs screaming at you. These lads are well entitled to a share of tips.
And soon to follow will be mandated taxation of tips.
@Nick Allen: I worked at hairdressing over 30 years ago and on my wages were taxed for other earnings, when this was asked about in the tax office,i was told i was being taxed on tips!!!
Not sure when tipping became a big thing. I’m the states it’s literally the staffs wages . In Ireland you pay for a wage through the food prices and wait staff get tips again. You don’t tip in a shop or anywhere else really.
@Harlowe Brendan: *in the states
@Harlowe Brendan: True. It’s a global thing to tip the waiter and if you don’t you might look cheap. I know much harder jobs that don’t get tips. Mark Zuckerberg didn’t leave a ip on his honeymoon in Italy an that was all over online media haha
@Harlowe Brendan: not really getting your point if there is one. Are you saying no one should tip?
@Deborah Behan: not in countries where a living wage is factored into the food prices.
I am sick to the back teeth of the tipping culture. Why should I feel guilt if I don’t slip somebody some extra money for providing a service I paid for?
Why not just pay people a decent wage for doing a job?
Why do we encourage employment outside the tax net?
I know many will think I’m pettty but why shouldn’t all income be subject to tax, if taxable.
@Tom Burke: Not petty at all! I totally agree with you! in what other area would the customer be expected to supplement the wages of employees just because an employer won’t pay them a fair wage.
it’s nowhere near as bad as america but same principle applies!
@KM TON: but they do pay them a relatively fair wage (keyword being relatively). For every restaurant paying minimum wage there’s at least one shop doing the same, with no tips to be “deprived” of in the first place. If we consider the equally skilled sector of retail a fair wage at minimum, then waiting staff aren’t been paid unfairly by earning the same with no tips.
When you leave a Tip with your credit card the owners get to keep it .im fed up of this American culture of tipping it destroyed a good meal .my pal never tops so I’m doing sane
Tips are discretionary depending on the service given by the waiting staff. Totally agree this is a direct payment to the said staff.
No longer support establishments that quote service charge as I really question this.
Yes, great idea, just get it done. I look forward to coming back here later to see how everyone tries to justify denying employees the tips given to them, to keep, as a reward for their good work
@Brian Masterson: I agree. but it’s a SF proposal and you can be sure FG with the help of FF will block it.
@Brian Masterson: Does the customer have to pay that bit extra because their employers won’t pay a decent wage.
Here another for our collection of badly written and misleading headlines from The Journal.
Brian us right.The kitchen staff (chefs and dishwasher staff)should be included as a team.
Remember customers DO come back if the food is right and the place is clean.
They are the backbone of the restaurant so it’s not just waiting staff ok.
Share tips for all who prepare the meal before it goes to the table,only right.
@Gerry Fallon: chefs are already on good wages . Same as the managers .. they don’t need to share the tips . It should be for the staff on minimum wages .
You don’t have to leave a tip, if you do it should go to the person intended. We all tend to forget that the hospitality industry enjoys 9% vat, yet staff are badly paid, no prospects and very poor conditions. Imagine working a nine hours day with just thirty minutes break, even that is at the behest of management.
I worked in catering for years and I remember management taking half of our tips, their excuse was that if they hadn’t hired us then we would have the chance and opportunities to make tips.
If they were paid a proper wage there would be no need for tips.
Some employers are paying proper wage .. a lot of customers will still leave a tip though ..
@Colm Mcmahon: Good Christ! Double rip off
My brother has a restaraunt in America.people come into him all the time willing to work for 3/4 dollars an hour and they said they will make their wages on tips.
I don’t think your brother should be allowed to get away with paying 3 or 4 dollars per hour dick dastardly. Is there no minimum wage in America?
@Trisha Tully: my brother don’t take on any staff,he runs it by himself.what I’m saying is people are coming into him looking for a job offering themselves to work for that price and tell him they will make up a weeks wage in tips.
@Trisha Tully:
There are 2 sets of minimum wage in USA, one for regular workers and one for restaurant servers. Latter is typically a ‘shift pay’ or a much lower hourly rate based on the expected tips servers earn. (When I was a waiter in New York in the late 1980s it was $15 per shift ! )
Tip means ‘to insure promptness’ by service staff.
Tips should be shared by customer facing staff, (servers/bussers/bartenders).
Maitre D/Host Tips are given to them separately.
Restaurant management should keep their greedy hands off tips and also should pay the kitchen team a fair and appropriate amount, and not rely on tips.
PS. If I stay at a nice hotel for a week or so I tip bellman up front .. Guess who gets the best and most responsive service then !!
@Roland Kelly. Thanks for that clarification Roland. I think Tom Burke is right in that customers should not be expected to supplement low wages. Like I said in an earlier comment the government needs to increase the minimum wage to a decent level.
Front of house should tip the kitchen out.Tipping is not a big thing in Ireland anyway!!I work in hospitality in Canada a different ball game altogether to Irish tipping standards.Tipping can be a pain for customers…….Regarding carrying a plate to a table is it…Wrong,you gotta meet,greet,sell products…..Have excellent product knowledge….Deal with customer complaints, represent the place you work at.
Irish and Australian folk are not the best tippers out here,but when in another country you have to follow the ethicate regarding tipping and cultures etc.
If I were working in an environment where a customer feels like they want to tip me then that tip is mine. If an employer tried to take the said tip the next thing I would give him is a tip all for himself. Greedy Greedy employers. Only a humbag would take tips from staff
Don’t bother tipping, unless you get excellent, and I mean excellent, service. From my experience most waiting staff in Ireland are just going through the motions.
where i work, 12 1/2 % is charged as “service charge.
the staff do not see any of this!!!
Another finger in the pie for the revenue slave masters on the horizon
I hate the fact that I have to agree with a Shinner proposal, but I hate the fact that the tips line the pockets of restauranteurs more, so I hope it passes
It’s disgraceful that employees should have to rely on tips. Employers should pay them living wages.
I leave a tip if the food and service are good. Good manners to do so I think. Each to their own
There is no reason why waiting staff should get tips? Unless some person wants to give them or we re in USA. Tipping house cleaning is ok for me as they do a much harder job. It’s not like the waiting staff needs a masters degree and is payed 9-10e an hour!
I don’t like tips…..
My thinking is – I’ve paid the full price of the meal. That should be enough.
And yes I do tip because I know people depend on them.
My problem is if the resturant wants it’s staff to rely on tips – why not just adjust the meal price up by a typical tip.
As in pay an official price – ie what it says on the Menu that is the same as what you’d have paid if you tipped.
I never tip. I know it sounds horrible but all it does is encourage employers to pay less meanng the staff have to rely on the customer to pay their wage. How about a law that protects staff from being criminally underpaid?
Also, where are the tips for people who work in retail when they help you find something or are particularly nice at the till? It sounds like a ridiculous notion but we don’t question it when jt’s applied to wait staff.
When I worked in retail I would be on minimum wage. Never saw a tip. I do when the service is good but if the service is far from ok. I don’t. Most ppI know are on the same wage.
Also I used to share a flat with a lady who used to be paid cash, it was her choice to work there but on the other hand she didn’t pay any taxes. Cash in hand every week. Reason why she could only work 20 hours due to her visa but used to work more than 40 so she had to work in a restaurant that would not put some staff through the books.
In the states people tip because of wage inequality. Here there is a minimum wage. And restaurant are not the only ones on it. You have most of the retail sector, bar staff, and lots of hard working employees and they are not even close to getting a tip.
Just legislate a decent minimum wage and wait staff won’t have to cadge tips.
@Declan Mannix: the truth is somewhere in between. I know lots of chefs that are on the minimum level, or maybe 10/hour. Skills should be paid, I agree, that’s why the tips has to be shared. As well, the kitchen shifts aren’t always 8h long, most of times you work 12-14 h shifts with no break even to have a meal. Sounds crazy, but it’s the truth. I know waiters who work 35h and make the same money as a chef who works 60, so that’s not fair either. It has to be a team work for a restaurant to make money, and that includes the tips as well
Hi all.so my problem is sharing tips with a kitchen staff.they should be paid way more cause it is a mastercraft really.now i am very good at my job.i am a waiter.i use my skills such as knowledge of food and wine,my personality,proffesionalism etc.small example-customer wasnt happy with smth,i took care of him,moved him to a different table and so on.in the end he gives me a tip and says its for u,thank u for taking care of me and yr exellent service.mind u its one out of hundred examples.so WHY should i give share of that tip to anyone???!!!i am pretty sure i would get f…all if just said hello and served like a robot.
have your say