In what were uncomfortable scenes at Turners Cross tonight, supporters were forcibly removed from the stadium by members of An Garda Siochana after appearing to unveil a banner in protest against FAI Executive Vice President John Delaney.
A tricolour with what appears to say "Delaney Out" appears, stewards move in pretty fast. pic.twitter.com/dMdKZiPKeA
— Joe Leogue (@JoeLeogue) April 12, 2019
Set against the backdrop of what was a stomach-churning week for Irish soccer in general, given the FAI's hearing with the Oireachtas Committee on Wednesday past, not to mention Cork City supporters decision to boycott the Shed End part of the stadium which officially bears the name of Delaney's father Joe.
In what were fraught scenes at tonight's match against St Pats in the SSE Airtricity League, footage shows police ousting individuals from what appears a hostile crowd.
Whilst there is no way to corroborate from the footage the identities of those individuals removed, it is believed that one of those to have been ejected was Cork North-Central TD, Sinn Féin's Jonathan O'Brien.
I understand that gardai physically restrained Mr O'Brien (one source said he was put in a headlock) before ejecting him. He was not acting aggressively.
A bizarre incident in yet another bizarre week for Irish sport.— Fiachra Ó Cionnaith 😷 (@Ocionnaith) April 12, 2019
The 47-year-old is a former chairman of the club and a founding member of the Rebel Army's supporters trust, FORAS.
Mr O'Brien was part of the Oireachtas Committee that questioned the FAI delegation, which included Mr Delaney, on Wednesday offering his opinion at the sitting that the FAI needed "a complete shake-up".
The board needs to step aside and there needs to be a complete shake-up. If there isn’t it’s very hard to restore confidence in the FAI.
I don’t [have confidence], as someone who is really passionate about the League of Ireland.
The Cork City Independent Supporters Liason Officer issued a post on social media in the wake of the incident, expressing their condemnation of what had taken place.
We unilaterally condemn the forceful ejection of a former Cork City Board member and Chairman from the stadium tonight following a peaceful protest. Please let us not forget our roots @CorkCityFC @FORASTrust . #CCFC84
— CCFC Independent SLO (@CCFC84_SLO) April 12, 2019
In a late tweet, they released video footage of what they called the "unacceptable treatment" of officers towards a group of fans conducting a "peaceful protest".
Unacceptable and heavy handed treatment of loyal @CorkCityFC Supporters tonight. We feel it's important to highlight the unacceptable treatment of our Supporters during a peaceful protest. #CCFC84 #LeagueOfIreland pic.twitter.com/0gqNXKvmFE
— CCFC Independent SLO (@CCFC84_SLO) April 12, 2019
To add to an already tense mood, City were denied a victory in the dying moments of the game when Dean Clarke grabbed a late equaliser for St Pats after Graham Cummins had put the home side one-up with a first-half penalty.
