Peadar Ó Cofaigh Byrne says the Dublin players are in the dark as to whether Ger Brennan will be on the sideline in Aughrim this Sunday.
Brennan has been handed a 12-week suspension because of a physical altercation with Galway strength & conditioning coach Cian Breathnach McGinn during Dublin’s league clash against the Tribesmen at Pearse Stadium last month.
However, the Dublin manager is challenging the severity of the ban and has already taken his case, unsuccessfully, to both the Central Hearings Committee and Central Appeals Committee.
Dublin are now preparing to take the case to the Disputes Resolution Authority.
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The suspension prohibits Brennan from taking part in any matchday activity or preparations before games. He is not permitted to communicate with players or assist with the team during the ban.
Dublin will begin their Leinster campaign on Sunday with a quarter-final against Wicklow in Aughrim. As of now, Brennan will not be allowed have any involvement, but with Dublin continuing to challenge the ban, there is uncertainty as to whether he will be travelling with the squad to Aughrim.
“I don’t know if he will be there or not, to be honest,” says Ó Cofaigh Byrne. “We still have training this week, so we might get some more clarity on that, but at the moment I’m not too sure.
“I haven’t been talking to him too much because he’s not around and stuff.”
Should Brennan’s suspension be upheld, then the bainisteoir’s bib will have to be worn by one of his management team – which includes Dean Rock, Denis Bastick, Stephen Cluxton and Niall Moyna.
At a meeting of the CAC on Monday night, Brennan failed in his latest challenge to get the ban overturned or reduced. The Dublin manager was also forced to sit out a recent training camp in Johnstown House.
It is hardly ideal for Dublin to have such a cloud of uncertainty hanging over their preparations. Nonetheless, they will still travel to Wicklow as strong favourites.
The sides met at the same venue last April, with Dublin eventually pulling away to win by nine points. Oisín McConville’s Wicklow beat Carlow last weekend.
“They were going well in Division 4 and they were kind of unlucky not to get to the final,” says Ó Cofaigh Byrne.
“They have Mark Jackson in nets, who is very good from dead balls as well. He has a huge boot on him, and not just from frees but from play as well. He is some asset for them to have, and they try to get as much out of him as they can. So that will be something definitely (when preparing for) the game, trying to limit that.”
Ó Cofaigh Byrne missed the opening two rounds of this year’s league because of injury but came off the bench against Monaghan in round three and started in the games thereafter.
In 2025 the Cuala man produced his best season yet in a Dublin jersey with his physical presence in the middle of the field proving to be a huge asset under the new rules.
Kieran McGeeney has described the battle for possession from kickouts as piggery, but Ó Cofaigh Byrne – an All-Ireland club winner with Cuala in 2025 – has been a beneficiary of the increasing number of long kickouts.
“I enjoy it. It’s a bit of contact, it’s a bit of a contest. (The new rules) make you go long a little bit more.
“If you lose your own kickout, sometimes you’re quite exposed, which is good for the other team, and if you win it long it’s a great opportunity.”
The Leinster championship is as open as it has been for many years. Dublin dominated the province for well over a decade, winning 14 titles on the bounce from 2011 to 2024.
For any team to have such ownership of a competition is clearly damaging, so for all stakeholders it has to be positive that there is an edge back in the province. Louth enter the summer as reigning champions while Meath recently secured promotion to Division 1 of the National League for 2027.
And the renaissance of the Leinster championship has actually provided Dublin with some fresh motivation to get their hands back on the Delaney Cup.
“Yeah, 100 per cent. It’s great for Leinster and it’s great for us as well.”
*Ó Cofaigh Byrne was speaking at the announcement that Amgen is extending its title sponsorship of Cuala GAA to 2029.
