More GAA Shame

TheUlteriorMotive · March 29, 2023, 11:21am

Once the gear bag is not a bag of gear.

myboyblue · March 29, 2023, 11:24am

It is you who is implying it.

myboyblue · March 29, 2023, 11:25am

What else would it be full of?

habanerocat · March 29, 2023, 11:26am

Mick Kavanagh used have his full of hurls anyway.

myboyblue · March 29, 2023, 11:29am

Mick was a good lad. The helmet ruined him.

balbec · March 29, 2023, 12:57pm

Medals

balbec · March 29, 2023, 12:58pm

Amateur hour in fairness

TreatyStones · March 29, 2023, 1:13pm

That’s exactly what happened. The guard was the team liaison officer.

BruidheanChaorthainn · March 29, 2023, 1:32pm

Why was he left on the side line so long? I think somebody on here was saying after we won the all Ireland kiely wouldn’t shake his hand. It seems a bit strange.

myboyblue · March 29, 2023, 2:03pm

Grim business. Could we suggest the recent Kellie Harrington hooha is Limerick deflecting attention from this?

Fat_Pox · March 29, 2023, 2:11pm

Great post. All you were missing was substituting “socks” for “togs”.

the_man_himself · March 29, 2023, 2:23pm

He must have been near enough to getting put off the road to go through the hassle of a day in court for the sake of €80 and 3 penalty points

StoneCold · March 29, 2023, 2:29pm

Pat Ryan Simon has found an unlikely ally in the figure of Ger Redser O’Grady @peddlerscross

Feech_La_Manna · March 29, 2023, 2:43pm

Conor Mcgregor World GIF

Those Limerick lads just dont give a fuck.

peddlerscross · March 29, 2023, 2:43pm

An outstanding rant from Redser you’d have to say.

caulifloweredneanderthal · March 29, 2023, 2:53pm

Is Redser on social media?

blackjack · March 29, 2023, 7:49pm

If a County player cant get off with an auld speeding ticket tis all the wan.

FlakeAway · April 5, 2023, 6:40pm

Not even sure if it’s him tbh

Fagan_ODowd · April 23, 2023, 6:29am

Consent

News

Premium

Top GAA coach swindled a friend out of more than €40,000 – ‘I’m annoyed at how naive and trusting I was’

Hurling coach Jimmy Meagher convinced his victim, who was working in Australia at the time, to invest in a non-existent sliotar business

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Hurling coach Jimmy Meagher. Photo: Patrick Browne

[

Mark Tighe

April 23 2023 02:30 AM
](Mark Tighe - Independent.ie)

An elite GAA coach in Kilkenny has been found guilty of fraudulently taking €41,000 from a close friend who he convinced to invest in a non-existent sliotar business.

James ‘Jimmy’ Meagher, an assistant coach on the Kilkenny minor hurling team and part of this year’s All-Ireland club championship-winning Ballyhale Shamrocks coaching team, was found guilty of one count of fraud at Kilkenny Circuit Court on March 22.

Meagher, who recently worked as a substitute teacher in two large, girls secondary schools in Kilkenny, was sentenced to two years in prison with the last 18 months suspended after he pleaded guilty to the offence.

Meagher was originally charged with nine offences relating to dishonestly deceiving a close friend who was working in Australia to invest in what was claimed to be a Croke Park-approved hurling supplies business.

Judge Elva Duffy took seven charges into consideration when sentencing Meagher and agreed to postpone the activation of his prison sentence until June 1 as he is currently studying in the University of Limerick.

Last month, Meagher attended the AIB GAA Club Player Awards ceremony in Croke Park along with the Ballyhale team and was photographed holding the Player of the Year award given to Joey Holden, who was away travelling at the time.

Meagher’s victim, “John” (32), spoke to the Sunday Independent but asked for his real name not to be used because of the sensitive nature of the case. John has faced a backlash from some members of the community where he lives in Kilkenny for making a garda complaint against Meagher because of his standing in hurling.

John explained that Meagher, who is about seven years older than him, was a family friend who he hurled with.

“He would have trained me a good bit over the years,” he said. “He was always around because our families are close. I was involved with Kilkenny under 21s and he would have got me in for trials but then I broke my hand.”

John emigrated to Australia in 2016 to work as a pipelayer. In his victim impact statement he said that was one of the most difficult decisions of his life.

“It required me to leave my job, my friends, my parents and most significantly my daughter behind,” he said.

“I knew I could never make the money required to provide for myself and my family here in Ireland. I worked tirelessly throughout my time in Australia. I will never forget it, sometimes working 24-hour shifts.”

He made occasional visits home, including to attend Meagher’s wedding in 2018, where there were around 400 guests.

He said his time in Australia is “now clouded in shame, disappointment and utter regret” because of what happened.

He said instead of having a deposit for a house saved he is now back living with his parents and having to work long hours as a landscaper after losing €47,000 to Meagher. The coach was only charged in relation to €41,000 of that amount, he said.

In April 2019 Meagher phoned John in Australia and briefed him on a business venture. He was told it involved selling sliotars made in Pakistan to Croke Park-authorised Cúl Camps for children. At the time Meagher was working for Clare GAA as development officer.

John agreed to transfer around €10,000 initially but Meagher continued to send WhatsApp messages saying he had secured further contracts and promising that John could “double” further investments by helping him meet the demand.

In one message, Meagher said: “Well pal… I got another order for us last night… Leinster Council, who I used to work with, they heard we got the Cúl Camp order from Croke Park [and] are after giving us [their] hurling development squad order… It’s costing us €5,000, €2,500 each… We’ll double our money and get back €5,000 each… What do you think, lad? You interested?”

John responded, “Yeah, lad. I’m in”, with a thumbs-up emoji. Meagher said they would make “savage” profits.

Throughout the summer John transferred more cash to Meagher after being told they would have to turn away business unless John could finance stock purchases. “Jaysus lad, that’s unbelievable. I actually don’t know what to say, thanks a million,” Meagher wrote after John agreed to transfer another €8,000.

In another message he said, “we’re on a serious set up with these lads in Croke Park”, after claiming to have an order for primary school equipment from GAA HQ.

In his victim impact statement, John said: “When a friend reached out to me asking for money I did not have to think twice. After all, this was one of my closest friends, someone I respected, someone I trusted… I was working so hard back then and was so far away from home it was actually nice to have these regular lines of communication with back home.”

He said he knew Meagher had worked with clubs or county boards in Clare, Antrim, Waterford and Kilkenny and believed the story about the sliotar deals fully. It was only when he returned home in September 2019 that he began to become suspicious.

When he came home he agreed to pay Meagher another €4,000 in cash for “insurance”. Once he began to press Meagher on when he would see a return on his investments, he said Meagher became evasive. He was told Meagher’s personal issues, including going though a divorce, meant he could not immediately transfer cash.

He said Meagher continued to be the “life and soul of the party” and accompanied friends on the 12 pubs of Christmas in 2019. In January 2020 John sought the return of his money but was offered nothing but excuses. Towards the end of 2020 he told Meagher he would accept a repayment schedule of €100 a month but Meagher promised to pay €1,000 a month. He said Meagher made just one €1,000 payment.

Frustrated, in April 2021 John reported the matter to gardaí. Meagher pleaded guilty in July 2022. John is satisfied justice was done in court but was shocked to later find that Meagher went from the court hearing in Kilkenny to help coach the county’s minor team that evening.

He said Meagher’s lawyer told the judge her client had needed the cash to pay for his wife’s “lavish” lifestyle and maintenance for his child. John said he believes that comment about Meagher’s ex-wife was totally unfair. He also believes he is not Meagher’s only victim but believes others will not complain.

“I find it difficult to drive in my locality or head to the local shop as I constantly fear who I may meet, who might know my story, and who might judge,” he said. “I can’t describe the feeling, it’s like a tightness in my chest and I struggle to breathe.

“I love GAA, I grew up with a hurl in my hand, but I had to distance myself from the sport and my club because of the situation. I feel an injustice every time I head to a game. I find it infuriating that I seem to be the only one that is suffering and am fearful at the same time that if I don’t speak out others may suffer a similar fate. I do not want anyone to experience what I have been through.

“Recently I found myself turning off the All-Ireland club final because I just couldn’t bear to watch it,” he said in his victim impact statement.

“I felt sick and frustrated at how others I know and trust seemed to just be ignoring me and what has happened.”

John said he was surprised to be told just before the March hearing that Meagher had paid €41,000 into court to compensate him but he has yet to receive this money. “I am annoyed at how naive and trusting I was but most importantly I am heartbroken for my family around me who have suffered as a result of the actions of others,” he said.

“I find it extremely hard to discuss the events of the past few years because it fills me with so much anger, regret and disappointment. I don’t think I will ever be able to truly convey the emotional damage the situation has caused me and those closest to me.”

A spokeswoman for Kilkenny GAA said Meagher was previously involved as a coach with the current Kilkenny GAA minor team in preparation for this year’s Leinster championship.

“At this point in time, he has no involvement whatsoever with the Kilkenny GAA minor team or Kilkenny GAA. Kilkenny GAA will be making no further comment on this matter.”

Contacted on Thursday, Meagher said he was in college and could not speak.

A GAA spokesman said it had “no agreement” with Meagher to supply sliotars to its Cúl Camps. Asked if Meagher’s conviction would prevent him working with underage players, it said: “Dependent on the conviction, the GAA’s Child Safeguarding Committee assesses each case individually.”