Attack on referee in Dundalk condemned

vate nursing home in the State where operational control was taken over by a hospital group.

‘i am in awe of the work that the families of those who died in Dealgan have done, through the grief of losing their loved ones, to try to find the answers to their questions using Freedom of information requests.

‘They continue to this very day, asking the questions, sifting through the responses. But they continue to rightly demand a mechanism to get all the answers to their questions as to how their loved ones died and why.

‘it is three years on from the scandal of what happened in Dealgan and the government cannot obfuscate any longer over the inquiry they have promised. They need to get the terms of reference, in consultation with the families, published and the inquiry needs to get underway this year.

‘We cannot be recalling the fourth anniversary looking for the same thing’.

GARDAí are investigating an alleged assault of a referee at a soccer match in Dundalk last Thursday evening. The referee was refereeing a match in Muirhevnamór between Bay Utd and Sporting Ballyjamesduff in the North east Football League when he was allegedly kicked in the chest by a player from Sporting BJD. The game was subsequently abandoned with five minutes of the match remaining. A video of the incident has been shared widely over the past week.

The official attended hospital on Friday due to injuries sustained in the incident. Mr William Long, President of the irish Soccer Referees Society, condemned the assault on the referee who is a member of the local branch of his organisation.

Mr. Long stated: “First of all my thoughts and that of Society are with the referee concerned and his family. This is a shocking and appalling attack on someone who went out last night, giv- ing up his free time to ensure a game of football was played. The referee, who is a valued and long-standing member of our Louth Branch, has attended hospital today for treatment of his injuries. We wish him a speedy recovery from this outrageous ordeal.”

Mr. Long added: “i know that the league and the FAi are fully investigating the matter and I have every confidence that the matter will be dealt with appropriately in due course.”

“Unfortunately, assaults and abuse of referees remains an ever present concern of Society and our members across the country. We are working hand-inhand with the refereeing department of the FAi for some time now on various campaigns to reduce attacks on match officials.” one of those potential investigations will be held by the North east Football League, who confirmed they were aware of he incident.

“This latest incident shows that, sadly, the ‘respect for the referee’ campaigns are not getting through to everyone participating in the game that we all love and care about,” said Mr. Long.

A statement from Sporting BJD expressed heir disappointment at what had transpired and promised to co-operate fully with any investigation that will be held.

“All at Sporting BJD FC is extremely disappointed at last night actions vs Bay FC. An investigation is underway and we will do everything in our power to cooperate this matter with the North east Football League. The club will handle this situation with the upmost seriousness, and action will be taken by our club. The club will be making no further comments at this time,” concluded the statement.