DRA defend delay with report

THE DISPUTES Resolution Authority (DRA) have defended recent delays in the reporting of their decisions. The GAA's independent arbitration body have also revealed that the rationale in the Colin Moran case is due today or tomorrow, but that the full decision that led to Kerry captain Paul Galvin being available for next week's All-Ireland final isn't expected in the immediate future.

Moran's suspension was overturned on the very unusual basis that the original decision, taken when the match referee was asked to review a yellow card he had shown Moran for a clash with Westmeath's Dermot Bannon, had been irrational - a test for which the bar is set very high in courts and arbitration tribunals.

"I understand that the Moran decision is more or less ready," said DRA secretary Liam Keane. "In the case of Galvin, we simply haven't received it from the tribunal. I've spoken to the members and we're waiting on it.

"Some of the decisions are in quicker than others and it's generally down to the availability of the members. Galvin's, for instance, has been held up by holiday arrangements."

There has been disquiet within the GAA at the amount of time the DRA have been taking to post full decisions on their website, particularly in relation to the above cases where suspensions were either overturned (in Moran's case) or referred back to the GAA's disciplinary process (in the case of Galvin, who had a six-month ban for abusing officials halved).

Keane, however, denied the imminence of the All-Ireland final between Kerry and Tyrone was an issue. "That's not a factor in the delay in the Galvin case," he said.

It hasn't helped that both cases proved so controversial and that there was a curious public eager to learn the basis of the decisions. Up until these cases, decisions had been produced promptly, in many cases with full judgment and findings published in a few days.

Keane defended the delays, pointing out that, in general terms, decisions go up promptly and that despite the voluntary basis of the authority their work is more quickly produced than comparable professional bodies.

"It may look like a long time, but the decision is given immediately, just not in the detail that follows later. Compared with court hearings it's nowhere near as long, and even in commercial arbitration decisions can take considerably longer.

"I have to bear in mind that the people who sit on the arbitration panels operate on a voluntary basis and there's only so much pressure I can put on for things to be completed more quickly."

Given the recent controversies and delays in publishing the decisions, might there be an argument for re-forming the DRA as a panel with a smaller membership of lawyers and arbitration experts retained on a professional basis?

"I suppose it would be more efficient; that goes without saying. But people appearing before tribunals are amateurs, either players or administrators, and they might balk at being told what to do in these circumstances.

"If the hearings committee in a county were to end up being criticised by professionals who are being paid to sit on tribunals, it might not go down terribly well.

"Then again, when teams prepare for big games they frequently retain professional advice in relation to diet and physical conditioning and other services. But if the GAA were to decide to end the voluntary nature of the arbitration service I think that they should consider the matter carefully."