The furore over Colm Cooper's upcoming testimonial dinner rages on, with his ex-Kerry teammate, Paul Galvin, coming to Gooch's defence during an interview on Off the Ball Friday night. Cooper has borne the brunt of some criticism over his decision to hold the function, with GAA Director General Páraic Duffy declaring his oppostion but Galvin is having none of it.
Duffy claimed that the same people who may have given money to a club event would now be filling Cooper's pockets instead, in comparison to the sources of money he may make from his autobiography or punditry.
While he was full of praise for what Duffy has achieved in his role within the GAA, Galvin took umbrage to the Gooch comments and pointed out that some money from the testimonial would actually being going to Cooper's club Dr Crokes and said:
I'm not sure if he [Duffy] realises how his comments came off yesterday. I just thought they were quite mealy-mouthed and quite small to say we can't have a situation where an individual profits from the GAA...
He continued 'It doesn't change anything for me. I'm going along, I'm supporting him fully. I don't see why he's being criticised in the manner that he has been.'
Galvin's argument in favour of Gooch centred around the idea that if you put in so much time and effort into carving out a successful carrer and overcoming the challenges that come with it, then maybe he's entitled to having a night in his honour.
I was one of the people who was out in Santry to visit Gooch when his leg was in two halves almost. There's a side to it to where I just think people from the outside can comment and say what they like but they don't know what it's like to go through a career and what you put into your career. And then to be told at the end of it you can't do this kind of a thing, it doesn't seem right to me.
You can watch the clip below:
