Violence flares up because it is allowed to

Video evidence must be used to nail offenders, says Seán Moran.

What happened yesterday in Omagh can, in the cold light of day, be seen as the inevitable consequence of too much slipping and sliding in relation to the issue of confronting indiscipline.

Like any other persistent problem, dangerous driving for instance, undiscipline thrives because the deterrents are not respected.

Yesterday saw three free-for-alls during which the uninhibited participants felt safe to engage in a mass brawl. Perhaps had the referee sent off two players after the first of these incidents early in the match, some order might have been restored.

Alternatively, had the official taken control in the second half and abandoned the game after the third and most serious outbreak - with the points for the match being withheld - recognition of the situation's gravity would have been forced on the authorities.

But it's not enough simply to blame Paddy Russell's ill-advisedly permissive refereeing. As Mickey Harte said after the match when invited to have a go at the official, "God Almighty couldn't referee that."

Inconsistent and soft refereeing plays its role in encouraging incidents such as these, but it's only part of a wider problem.

The GAA have only within the past year put in place a new disciplinary structure. Results to date haven't been promising. An unhelpful combination of legal action and realpolitik meant the use of video evidence was curtailed last summer basically because Armagh's Paul McGrane couldn't be seen to be punished after Tyrone's Ryan McMenamin had got off through the intervention of the Disputes Resolution Authority.

Maybe as a balancing act it made sense, but the bottom line was more foul play going unpunished.

Neither Dublin nor Tyrone have reputations for mean-mindedness, certainly not commensurate with the sort of behaviour on view yesterday. But when a team feels it has something to prove, as Dublin presumably did after losing last August's All-Ireland quarter-final replay to the eventual champions, there is always the danger of a line being crossed.

Whatever motivations drive teams, it's up to the regime of regulation and enforcement to discourage recklessness and foul play. At present that's not happening.

This matter will have to come before the GAA's Central Disciplinary Committee (CDC) and they will have ample evidence on the basis of TG4's live match coverage.

If there is a legally advised problem with the concept of video evidence, let's know about it and amend the Official Guide accordingly.

In the meantime, there'll be plenty of offences that the referee couldn't have spotted and for which video is admissible.

The authorities have to let it be known that players cannot disregard rules and referee and get away with it, regardless of official inaction on the day.

In other words, if the camera catches you you're caught.

CDC have to act stringently on this case. Whether it's a matter of striking an opponent or discrediting the association, the rules are there to deal with what happened and the video footage is there to identify the culprits.

Caning Dublin and Tyrone will, however, be of limited usefulness if a new benchmark on the enforcement of discipline isn't established and upheld.