MAYO GAA - When is an apology actually an apology?

COMMENT

DECEMBER is a time when many of us take stock, reflect on the past year and look towards the future. Mayo GAA will do that on Sunday when the clubs convene in Knock to recall the happenings of 2025, and look towards 2026 and beyond.

Once again, the county is at a pivotal point where ambitious, calm and long-term thinking would address some of the glaring challenges being experienced across the county. History tells us that there will be a lot of words spoken and hearty applause delivered, which will gloss over the urgent need for actual delivery.

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Delegates at the convention will discuss the motions put forward by various clubs, a few votes will be taken and eventually everyone will leave the venue, return to real life and get ready for Christmas.

However, before the GAA people of Mayo fill up on turkey and slip towards 2026, one glaring oversight should be addressed.

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Take a moment to recall the sad happenings of Wednesday, June 25, 2025. As bedtime arrived across the county a statement from Mayo GAA seeped into the newsfeed "relieving" Kevin McStay and his management team from their roles with the Mayo senior football team with immediate effect.

It was crass, embarrassing, disrespectful and just plain wrong. The statement was rightly met with the dismay and disgust it deserved.

On July 7, Mayo GAA looked to somewhat make amends at a meeting of club delegates in Castlebar when vice-chairman Michael Diskin issued a heartfelt and unreserved apology.

That was commendable. It didn't make anything right; it didn't take away the hurt and dismay the original communication had caused, but a heartfelt apology is always a decent thing to do, providing it is actually heartfelt.

Fast forward five months and the apology issued that night in MacHale Park is beginning to ring a little hollow.

One of the core components of a genuine apology is an effort to repair the damage done. Therefore, the classless press-release delivered on June 25 should have been removed from Mayo GAA's website immediately following the apology on July 7.

I'm aware that in the intervening months a number of approaches have been made to Mayo GAA asking for the press-release to be removed. However, those approaches have been ignored.

Issuing the press-release was a disgrace and will forever be a stain on Mayo GAA. Apologising publicly for doing so, was the right thing to do. Not following up on that apology by removing the offensive words is disrespectful in the extreme. Mayo GAA should be better than this!