The treatment and abuse of referees is a major talking point in the GAA world right now, but events at a Westmeath underage match last weekend only served to illustrate the importance of match officials.
At an Under-15 football county final in Kinnegad last Saturday, referee and paramedic Kieran Daly and linesman, Garda Enda Kenny, came to the aid of a player who was in distress.
The game between Inny Shamrocks and Lilliput Gaels was halted when the player needed attention.
"All I will say is that the sense of GAA community was evident last Saturday," referee Daly told RTE Sport.
"I'm a paramedic and Enda is a Garda and we both saw a young lad in bother. We blew the whistle and went to help. Everyone went to help. Enda made space, two referees who were watching in the crowd offered help. The Lilliput Gaels physio was fantastic. We carried out our duties and the player was brought into the dressing room and we took it from there."
Thankfully, club updates have since stated that the player is doing well.
"It was just great to be able to assist," Daly adds.
"But it rammed home to me the sense of community in the GAA."
Daly, who hails from Ballinahown, Athlone, is attached to the Kilbeggan Shamrocks club and has been refereeing for seven years.
He has seen the abuse dished out to fellow match officials around the country – in recent weeks especially – but says he loves his role.
"I’m seven years at it and I love every single day, I love every day that I put a whistle in my mouth and go out onto a field," he states.
"I never played football much, playing didn’t appeal to me but refereeing does."
The Shamrocks man says the biggest issue facing referees, in his opinion, is from those who do not understand the interpretation of playing rules.
"That’s a massive thing," he says. "Referees have programmes and procedures to go through, including online tuition, to get all the right training when it comes to rules.
"In refereeing underage games, I try to explain the decisions I make to young players.
"But perception of rules is a massive thing and I fully believe that mentors and managers should be aware of the rules too – and the implementation and interpretation of them.
"If they don’t have that, they can get frustrated by decisions. And if young players see their managers reacting to referees with anger, they will follow suit.
"Decisions can obviously be the winning and losing of games and that’s when the abuse starts. But we all have families and jobs outside of refereeing.
"Overall, though, it’s a positive thing to be a referee and we get great backing in this county.
"It’s hard to get mentors but an education programme on understanding the rules of our games would be an essential thing I would recommend.
"But for young refs coming through I would not be put off. There is a great sense of community, it is a great way of broadening your social horizon, of keeping fit and being involved in our national games."
