Former Derry football boss Rory Gallagher is suing the GAA President and Director

FORMER DERRY FOOTBALL manager Rory Gallagher has launched a High Court case against the GAA’s President Jarlath Burns and Ard Stiúrthóir Tom Ryan.

Solicitors on behalf of Gallagher, from firm Phoenix Law, filed lodged a case on Friday against the senior GAA bosses. The ex-Derry manager is seeking damages from the men.

Gallagher was poised to be appointed as the coach of Naas GAA, the four-in-a-row Kildare champions, in January but the club quickly announced that it had reconsidered the position, following reports of the appointment.

It was subsequently revealed that Burns had intervened in an email to Naas, while “an extraordinary volume” of emails were also sent to the club secretary from the membership of the Kildare club.

In May 2023, Gallagher stepped down as Derry manager in the wake of domestic abuse allegations made by his estranged wife, Nicola Gallagher.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland investigated the allegations, and forwarded two files to Northern Ireland’s Public Prosecution Service (PPS) in 2022, but no charges were brought.

In a statement in May 2023, the PPS said: “It was determined that there was insufficient evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction for any offence in relation to any individual.”

A previous statement by Gallagher, issued through his solicitor Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, said: “At all stages of this process, our client has firmly and steadfastly denied his guilt and refuted all the allegations levelled against him.”

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In a statement in January to the Irish Independent, Gallagher described the GAA President’s actions as “unprecedented” and “an effort to sabotage my potential appointment”.

“With great power comes great responsibility. Mr Burns’ actions are premised on a misguided and self-serving compulsion to share his concern,” Gallagher said.

He added: “By Mr Burns’ own admission, his motivation is the ‘controversy’ surrounding my ‘personal life’ that ‘has created division’. These words should be a matter of concern to not just me and my family, but to every GAA member.

“It seems that social media commentary and controversy now equates to a licence for presidential intervention.”

Gallagher threatened to take legal action to “cure the irreparable damage done to me and my family” if the GAA President did not formally retract his communication with the club.

Burns later said he would not retract his communications with the club and defended his email, claiming he would continue to have a hands-on approach to his role.

“I made it clear when I became president that I wouldn’t be a hands-off president,” Burns told the Late Late Show in January. “I did take the opportunity to contact Naas and let them know the reservations that I had.”

Burns added that Naas GAA would have always had the final decision to appoint Gallagher to the role or not, and that there would not have been any repercussions had they chosen to not follow his advice.

Phoenix Law and GAA have both been contacted for comment.

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