KILDARE champions Naas made a U turn on their decision to appoint former Derry manager Rory Gallagher as a coach, with GAA President Jarlath Burns reported to have contacted the club to express concerns.
Gallagher was due to link up with the four-in-a-row champions under manager Joe Murphy - but those plans have been ditched.
It is understood the GAA President emailed the Naas club and expressed concerns over Gallagher’s proposed coaching post there in light of allegations of domestic abuse made by his estranged wife Nicola on the eve of the 2023 Ulster final, when the Derry footballers were being managed by the Fermanagh native.
Gallagher subsequently stepped down from the Derry post before the 2023 final, saying that the allegations against him were “investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities”.
Burns is believed to have cited to the Naas club the GAA’s role in the launch of the Game Changer project – a collaboration with Ruhama and White Ribbon Ireland aimed at raising awareness and action through sport to tackle Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (DSGBV).
A day after it was announced Gallagher would be joining Murphy’s backroom team in Naas, the appointment was scrapped.
Through his legal team last year, Gallagher expressed his desire to return to coaching in the GAA.
Last September Phoenix Law insisted “there is no legal impediment to our client undertaking or accepting a role as a GAA senior football manager.”
The Belfast-based law firm added that “at all stages of this process, our client has firmly and steadfastly denied his guilt and refuted all the allegations levelled against him.
“Mr Gallagher has not been charged with a single offence.”
