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Martin McNally during the Connacht SFC match between London and Leitrim
In August, a study was released revealing that almost one in every four GAA referees have suffered physical abuse during their careers.
Since then, there have been a spate of high-profile incidents which have drawn focus on referee welfare.
An alleged assault of a match official in Roscommon led to all of his colleagues in the county going on strike for a weekend, while a similar incident last week in Wexford led the Model County to release a host of measures.
As the association attempts to entice more people to take up the whistle, these headlines are wholly unwelcome.
“It definitely would discourage anybody who is 50:50 about taking up the whistle,” intercounty football referee Martin McNally, who officiated the Munster final and an All-Ireland quarter-final in 2022, told Sky Sports.
“It wouldn’t fill anybody who is just dipping their toes in the water with confidence to stay in it.
“We do have thousands of games that go by without incidents…It’s still a fair enough comment to make that a lot of these scenarios are the exception, not the norm. When they do happen, it puts the whole refereeing spectrum under the microscope. Probably rightly so, because it’s not something we want to see.
“It’s also causing issues recruiting referees. And that’s not something that is new to anybody. I know the GAA assisted [the recent study]. And they wanted to use that as a fact-finding exercise to put some meat on the bone and see where we need to go in terms of recruitment and retention.”
Reflecting on the start of his own refereeing journey, McNally says he would not have been put off by such incidents.
“I can understand why it would deter people. But I wouldn’t see myself being deterred,” he detailed.
“At the time of picking up the whistle, I was aware that abuse was in the game, and I was going to be subject to abuse.
“More so the verbal abuse, it would never come into your head that you’re going to be physically abused, because that isn’t the norm to happen. We’re living in exceptional times and circumstances where these things have become quite common over the last few weeks and months.”
McNally points out such instances of abuse are extremely rare
Wexford GAA’s measures
Wexford GAA have instructed all clubs in the county to hold workshops “to go through a self-evaluation of their conduct towards match officials” in the wake of last week’s incident, and are also calling for a Special Congress to deal with the issue.
McNally believes clubs are a good starting point.
“I think there needs to be a more proactive approach to this, from grassroots right up to the top level,” he said.
“Clubs have a role to play in terms of educating their players, coaches and managers and vetting the right people for the right jobs. If you have a leak in your house, you wouldn’t phone an electrician to come in and fix it, you’d call a plumber.
“Particularly management for juvenile teams, where it’s the norm for parents to get involved with their kids’ team and work up with them through the age grades. Sometimes you need to pause and ask the question, are these the right people for the job?
“The thing that Wexford came out with, I would openly welcome that. I think it’s a start, and something that can be developed on from.”
And Wexford’s proposal to lift the maximum of 96 weeks for a ban on the more serious incidents is also a welcome move, according to the Monaghan native.
“I think that’s a definite that the GAA are going to look at it.” he said.
“You’re going to see a scenario that the GAA bring in suspension times to match crimes. That’s just the way it is. There’s probably a little bit of tweaking, and it’s only when you meet scenarios like this when you sit back and say, is that enough? Is it not enough? Is it too much for certain types of infractions?
“It’s a no-brainer, I think.”
Wexford GAA are calling for a Special Congress, and are suggesting several motions to combat the problems
Should referees be given more slack?
In order to keep tempers in check, perhaps more empathy is needed.
To that end, the man in the middle is often held to a higher standard than the other 30 people on the field of play, according to McNally.
“Referees are scrutinised for making one mistake or a number of small mistakes in a game,” he said.
“The average intercounty team would be targeting no less than 10-15 turnovers per game.
“That’s 10-15 mistakes where they give the ball away. They tolerate up to five balls wide, or shots dropping short into keepers’ hands.
“And they’d accept 80-90 per cent retention of their own kick-outs. So you’re talking about 50-70 mistakes over a 70-minute game by the group of 30 players on the pitch.
“And referees are trying to operate at one or two minor mistakes. There’s an unlevel playing field on the scrutiny on the amount of mistakes that are made.
“Referees by and large are operating at a success rate of between 95-100 per cent.”
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