Joe Brolly’s apology satisfies RTÉ and Marty Morrissey

RTÉ have brought closure to the controversial remark by their Sunday Game analyst Joe Brolly with a warning that "similar comments in any future broadcast cannot and will not be tolerated."

However it will be a couple more weeks before Brolly is back on the small screen, although not because of his behaviour last Sunday: according to a statement from RTÉ, Brolly wasn’t scheduled for another on air live broadcast until June 14th, with the double-bill of football games featuring Armagh against Donegal, and Galway against Mayo.

It means the former Derry All-Ireland winner won’t be featuring in Croke Park this Sunday, as the Dublin footballers take on Longford (in a double-bill with the Dublin hurlers against Galway). In the meantime Ryle Nugent, group head of sport at RTÉ, has claimed that Brolly’s apology for comparing RTÉ commentator Marty Morrissey with the “ugly” style of Ulster football has been “graciously accepted”.

‘Acutely aware’

According to Nugent: “Joe is acutely aware that his ill-conceived attempt at humour was both inappropriate and extremely hurtful and had no place in any broadcast.

“Further, Joe is fully cognizant of the fact that similar comments in any future broadcast cannot and will not be tolerated. Joe has spoken at length with and offered a heartfelt apology to Marty Morrissey which was graciously accepted. All parties now consider this matter closed.”

Brolly had opened RTÉ’s live coverage of the Ulster championship clash between Cavan and Monaghan last Sunday by comparing the ugliness of the “black death” of Ulster football, including Cavan, with Morrissey: “Somebody said it’s as ugly as Marty Morrissey, their football . . . maybe I should apologise to the people of Cavan.”

Meanwhile, someone who will be making their live senior debut in Croke Park on Sunday is rising Galway hurler Cathal Mannion, who although just turned 20, looks set to nail down a starting spot in the team named later this week by manager Anthony Cunningham.

Mannion has been fast-tracked into the Galway starting line-up as Cunningham looks to inject some fresh pace and enthusiasm after two disappointing seasons back to back.

The lively young forward has already displayed ample ability, Mannion actually making his first senior start against Dublin in the 2014 league, when still only 19, and is clearly ready to make an impact this summer.

“We know we’re not too far away from any team,” he says. “Tipp and Kilkenny beat us last year and we definitely should have beaten Tipperary. We know we’re not too far away, but it’s just small margins.

“We’d prefer to have gotten further in this year’s league to get more competitive games. We lost out to Waterford, and they went on to win it, and they were very impressive. So we know where we have to get to now. The mark is set there. We were a long way off it on the day, but hopefully we can rectify it on Sunday.”

Sunday also marks Mannion’s first game in the Leinster championship, because although he starred at both minor and under-21 level for Galway, their invite into Leinster doesn’t extend into those grades: that, hopes Mannion, will change.

“I think that’s what all players want, competitive games. At minor and under-21, you’re straight through to the quarter-final and semi-final (respectively). More games would improve all the hurlers for senior and I think it would be good.

“And for Galway, winning another Leinster title would be massive. It would set you up for the year. But we have such a big game in the quarter-final. Ourselves and Dublin don’t want to be in the qualifiers so we can’t look past that.”

The fact remains that Galway have only won two championship matches (both against Laois) since forcing Kilkenny to an All-Ireland final replay in 2012 (then losing out in that replay).

Mannion, like a lot of people in Galway, is at a loss to explain what has happened since, although clearly the defeat to Tipperary in last year’s qualifiers is one game they feel got away “I think it hurt everyone. I think we were six points up with a few minutes to go and we let it slip. It shouldn’t have happened, but hopefully it’ll improve us for this year.

‘Slowed down’

“I think we should have slowed down the game and tried to tag on a score or too. They scored, what, something like 1-6 without reply? They just pulled away from us and we were unable to stop them. Hopefully we won’t let that happen again.

“So definitely, we’d be hoping to get to the heights of 2012 again. We were off the pace, in 2013 and 2014, but everyone is training hard and everyone is looking forward to the Dublin game. Hopefully we can bring good intensity and get the right side of the result.”