DONEGAL GAA officials have given a guarded welcome to an Ulster Council clarification of online comments regarding an investigation into the minor championship game between Tír Chonaill and Tyrone in May.
In that game, allegations of ‘sledging’ were made against Tyrone players, who were said to have allegedly used personal remarks against a Donegal player. The investigation into the matter had been ongoing since then and was only concluded in late September.
However, on Tuesday night, an online magazine claimed that a series of allegations attributed to Tyrone minor footballers during the championship game against Donegal “did not take place”, according to Ulster GAA. Donegal GAA immediately issued a press statement refuting the claims by the Tyrone-based online magazine.
The Ulster Council released a statement on Wednesday afternoon, which read: “Following a request from the Tyrone county committee, Ulster GAA, through its CCC, established an investigation committee in May 2015, which met on seven occasions over a four-month period to review evidence and witness statements, alongside conducting a range of interviews with the relevant parties.
“At a meeting on Wednesday, September 23, the committee reviewed its findings with both Tyrone and Donegal and the concluding report was agreed by all parties. The committee agreed with both county committees that the findings will remain confidential. We would also highlight that recent media reports regarding the investigation do not accurately reflect the findings of the committee.
“All parties were satisfied that this matter was resolved and there will be no further comment from Ulster GAA.”
When contacted, Donegal chairman Seán Dunnion said: “We welcome the press release from the Ulster Council and the clarification that the reports carried by the online mag were not accurate."
Dunnion also called on Tyrone to clarifty the matter: “Both CLG Dhún na nGall and CLG Thír Eoghain had agreed that the findings would remain confidential because of the welfare concerns of underage players.”
Declan Bonner, who managed the Donegal minor side this year, branded the magazine a “disgrace” for claiming that Tyrone had been exonerated by the Ulster Council’s findings.
“To say that Tyrone were cleared is absolutely wrong - I’m very disappointed to say the least because we didn’t need this thing blowing up again,” said Bonner.
Bonner - who threatened to leave the game in May after claiming one of his players had been subject to personal abuse against Tyrone - also came under fire on social media earlier this week after it was reported the alleged ‘sledging’ did not take place.
“When I made the statement, I knew exactly what had happened," he added.
"Anyone can go and make comments on social media - at the end of the day, the stories weren’t made up, we’d won the match so what would be gained by it? We were prepared to move away and let the Ulster Council deal with it.”
Meanwhile, Ulster Council president Martin McAveney said the council are still waiting to view the referee’s report before beginning an investigation into allegations that a Cargin player was bitten against Crossmaglen in last Sunday’s Ulster Club SFC quarter-final.
