So far the GAA’s ‘Respect’ initiative had a thin enough time of it since being launched more than five years ago. Intended to foster “a new approach of fair play, mutual respect and goodwill to Gaelic football and hurling across all grades,” its most conspicuous expression to date is the rather stilted group handshake before matches.

It was certainly honoured more in the breach than in the observance at Parnell Park on Saturday evening. For a match that has caused quite a bit of controversy in the aftermath it wasn’t hugely remarkable on the field.

Had Tipperary justifiable grievances about how the match was refereed? On review, not really. If anything they benefited from Fergal Kelly’s failure to spot the stamp on Cathal McShane by Steven O’Brien – or the trip before it – as early as the 10th minute. There were also a couple of black card incidents involving players from either side, which went unpunished.

At the end there was a final talking point as to why a free out to Tyrone was allowed to stand after their corner back Michael Cassidy had been sent off for a second yellow card offence – as opposed to a hop ball and the cancelling of the free.

Original incident

Again on review, the referee’s decision looks correct. The yellow card was for an infraction committed after and separate to the award of the free. The ball wasn’t in play and the foul didn’t constitute retaliation for the original incident.

Tipp however clearly did have grievances, which caused them to refuse access to their dressing-room to Tyrone manager Fergal Logan – a depressing update on how successfully the ‘Respect’ initiative is progressing. There was a good deal of lamenting of cynical play but aside from what Tyrone appeared content to overlook, as just the result of disappointment in the loss of a tight match, there was clearly an issue at stake.

Passing references to verbal altercations and trash talking indicated the basis for the ill will. Although some of these altercations were reportedly visible from the stand, this sort of behaviour is not easy to pinpoint.

Tyrone have a high-powered under-21 management. Manager Fergal Logan played in a senior All-Ireland final for the county and is a well-known solicitor in the GAA, having represented players at the DRA.

His selectors Peter Canavan and Brian Dooher are All-Ireland winning captains. There’s no reason to doubt Canavan’s sincerity in rejecting the insinuation that the management schooled the players in cynical practices but verbal abuse is such a widespread problem in the game everywhere that it’s simply absorbed.

Tyrone don’t have a totally innocent history in this regard. Former defender Ryan McMenamin has freely acknowledged his verbal exploits, while maintaining that he wasn’t unique in that respect even if he was particularly renowned.

There was a striking image after the 2008 All-Ireland final against Kerry of Joe McMahon snarling in Tommy Walsh’s face during the match. But the issue at stake here though goes far beyond Tyrone.

Verbal provocation of opponents is sufficiently widespread to have been specifically addressed by former GAA president Liam O’Neill in his 2013 annual address. Reportedly, iin recent years, it appears to have plunged to Stygian depths with research into opponents’ private lives being pursued better to fashion taunts and insults.

Like any other form of misbehaviour in the GAA, it flourishes mainly because it’s tolerated and is deemed more advantageous than disadvantageous to the player indulging in it. How often do we see players who have verbally provoked opponents receiving the proper sanction – a black card? When I sympathised with one administrator about how hard it must be to detect this misbehaviour, he estimated that between 40 and 50 per cent of verbal provocation was detectable and just ignored by referees.

With a new National Referees Committee settling into office, it would be a good idea to address this going into the championship. Any mouthing picked up from one player to another should be met with a black card. The miscreant can be left to sharpen his repartee on the bench.

This also raises a ludicrous anomaly with the playing rules. As there is deemed to be no cynical behaviour in hurling and consequently no black card, you can slag off your hurling opponent in as scabrous a manner as would get you removed from the pitch in football – but at the bargain rate of a yellow card.

The red card infraction of racist and sectarian abuse applies in both games, but the more common-or-garden, ‘your sister’s a hoor – I know’ type of talk attracts significantly different sanctions depending on whether you’ve a hurl in your hand or not.

Respect could be very effectively promoted by taking verbal abuse seriously. As Liam O’Neill said over two years ago: “We all have a duty to eradicate it.”