Trust us, the gloriously good weather of the past couple of weeks has actually happened: despite the fact that the Diarmuid Connolly incident is still in the news, more than three weeks after it actually happened.
Jim Gavin's comments yesterday, complaining of Connolly's coverage at the hands of the broadcast media, led to another raft of debate, with Joe Brolly and Dessie Dolan criticising their Sunday Game colleague Pat Spillane over his comments on the issue. Brolly argued that Spillane's comments influenced the decision by the CCCC to suspend Connolly for 12 weeks:
He[Spillane] is a big boy, and he knows what he said. Of course Diarmuid shouldn't have touched the official, but at that stage, the officials had not taken any action in relation to it, and it was in the context of Connolly being held in the way that he was.
You have to say, it was like watching counsel for the prosecution. Pat had everything on but his Kerry blazer and his Kerry tie. I thought to myself after, the CCCC are going to act here.
Dessie Dolan ended the debate by stressing the influence Sunday Game pundits have, naming - Brolly, O'Rourke and Spillane - concluding that "I felt that night it was pointed toward Diarmuid Connolly getting a suspension".
The CCCC's chairperson, George Cartwright has today been forced to confirm that the Sunday Game have had no say in the decision to suspend Connolly, telling RTE Sport:
I would refute that totally.
The Sunday Game has no bearing or influence on the GAA disciplinary system.
The CCCC review all games on a Monday that have been played on Saturday or Sunday and take action if need be.
