Vinnie Murphy is well respected in the circles of Dublin GAA.
He is a man with plenty of experience playing for Dublin, having won an All-Ireland title and five Leinster crowns in his time, so when he gives his opinion people tend to listen.
Murphy was a guest on SportsJOE Live on Wednesday night and weighed in on the Diarmuid Connolly debacle, and his opinion may prove unpopular amongst those supporting the Dublin star.
Connolly appealed to the Central Hearings Committees over the 12-week ban that he received for laying his hands on an official and could yet appeal a further two times before the whole thing draws to a close.
Murphy weighed in on the situation and was of the mindset that Connolly should serve his punishment.
“I think everyone has seen the incident. Diarmuid did put the hand on the linesman and the rule states that it’s 12 weeks,” Murphy said.
“Now, people can look at it and say it’s quite harsh for what he did but I’m a firm believer that if you do the crime you do the time and I just felt that he should have taken the punishment, moved on and came in under the radar for the semi-final.
“I think they’re taking a huge risk that if it goes on that potentially he mightn’t be able to play in the semi-final if Dublin get there.”
The argument is that nothing was made of the incident at the time and that it has become a ‘media witch-hunt’.
“Now is it a witch hunt? I heard people talk about they’re not mentioning this and that, they obviously highlighted the issue that came up with Diarmuid pushing the linesman,” he told host Colm Parkinson
“Media people were all talking about it which is fine, (supporters) are saying ‘they weren’t mentioning the three (Carlow players) that were targeting him,’ that’s been going on for years.
“I know back when I was playing… the top players always got singled out, I think Diarmuid gets even more attention than any other footballer. That’s a separate area, you can’t put your hands on an official and expect to get away with it, I just think it has dragged on and it should be done and dusted.”
Since then, it has been confirmed that Connolly will not take the appeal any further.
You can watch the whole interview below starting from 3:00
