Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes has avoided jail after a judge deemed him suitable for community service.
Hayes was back in court on Monday, less than 24 hours after he was named man of the match in Limerick’s defeat of Cork in the fourth round of the Munster senior hurling championship.
Judge Dara Hayes had previously indicated at Limerick Circuit Criminal Court that he faced serving 180 hours of community service in lieu of three months in jail.
After confirming the order, however, the judge warned Hayes he would be going to prison if he committed further criminal offences.
The suspended jail term was imposed on the Limerick centre-back after a jury convicted him of two counts of committing violent disorder, inside and outside, the Icon nightclub, Limerick, in 2019 - charges he denied at a trial in 2023.
On Monday the judge reminded Hayes that all of the relevant legal “obligations and requirements” on the hurler had been “explained” to him. The judge warned that “non-compliance” with the order would see the All-Star hurler going to jail.
Addressing Hayes, the judge said: “If there is non-compliance you will be brought back before the court and the (three month) sentence will be imposed.”
Hayes replied: “Yes, judge.”
The judge said he would make “no order” on the hurler’s second conviction for violent disorder, in respect of the same night at the nightclub in 2019.
The terms of the judgement order, specifically, where and when Hayes will be starting his community service, were not disclosed in court.
Judge Hayes said the hurler must complete the community service order within 12 months.
Hayes’s barrister, senior counsel Brian McInerney, confirmed to the court that the probation service had deemed the hurler suitable for community service in lieu of the jail sentence.
“A suitable service has been selected and all other matters have been satisfied,” Mr McInerney told the court.
Hayes (26) of Ballyashea, Kildimo, Co Limerick, appeared as part of long-standing “Section 99 Re-entry” proceedings.
The hearing was initially triggered after Hayes engaged in dangerous driving at Mallow, Co Cork, four months after the violent disorder concurrent suspended sentences of 18 months and two years were imposed on him in March 2024.
On July 14th, 2024, Hayes was recorded by a Garda overtaking nine cars in a row on a stretch of the N20 Cork- Limerick dual carriageway, whilst driving 55kph above the 100kph speed limit.
Hayes subsequently lost an appeal against the driving conviction on March 12th 2025, for which he was given a two-year driving ban and fined €250.
Previously summarising the events from the Icon nightclub, Judge Hayes said the Limerick hurler was one of two men who “aggressively approached” self-employed carpenter, Cillian McCarthy, and that Hayes was one of a group of four males who later on “attacked” Mr McCarthy inside the nightclub.
The judge said two gardaí gave evidence at Hayes’s trial that they saw the hurler kicking a man lying on the street outside the nightclub, on the night, but the judge said there was no evidence before the court that the man on the ground was Cillian McCarthy.
The judge said the trial jury acquitted Hayes of a third charge, assault causing harm to Mr McCarthy. He said Kyle Hayes had paid €10,000 in damages to Mr McCarthy as part of the terms of the suspended sentences imposed on him.
