Rory Gallagher: Derry GAA 'did not receive abuse claims email'

Rory Gallagher has stepped back from his role as manager of Derry senior men's GAA side

Derry Gaelic Athletic Association board has said it was unaware of domestic abuse claims against its senior football manager until last week.

Mr Gallagher's estranged wife Nichola detailed serious allegations of domestic abuse over a 24-year period in a post on social media last week.

Derry GAA said there had been media reports that it had been sent an email about the allegations on 25 May 2022.

The board said it could find no record of the email.

"We have rigorously checked our email system and we have no record of receiving any such email then or at any time subsequent to that," it said.

"We have not been able to verify the address the email was sent to, but we believe it may have been sent to a defunct administrator address."

It added: "We condemn all forms of domestic violence and we encourage anyone who has experienced domestic violence to report it to the relevant authorities immediately."

Mr Gallagher stepped back from his role managing Derry's senior footballers after the allegations were made public.

Earlier, Fermanagh's GAA county board said it did not receive any "official complaints" of domestic abuse about Mr Gallagher, who is a former manager of its senior football team.

It came after his Nichola Gallagher said she had made allegations against him to the board but it "did nothing".

Last week Mr Gallagher said the claims had been investigated by "relevant authorities". The PPS confirmed it had reviewed two files from the police and had concluded there was not enough evidence to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction

His estranged wife told the Sunday Independent that the GAA "knew about all of this, 100%".

"The county boards of Fermanagh and Derry knew because [my father and I] told them," she told the newspaper.

Claims were 'dealt with'

In a statement on Monday, the Fermanagh board said: "While we will not make any comment on specific allegation or allegations, we can state that Fermanagh GAA has never received any official complaints.

"Fermanagh GAA does not condone any form of domestic abuse.

"We encourage and support anyone who has been a victim of such abuse not to suffer in silence but to avail of the statutory and voluntary support services that are available in the community."

Ms Gallagher also told the Sunday Independent that her father had emailed Derry management last year with the claims.

On Thursday, Mr Gallagher said that the allegations against him had been "investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities".

He said: "Those closest to our family are well aware of the reasons for the breakdown of our marriage and the continued issues we have faced since that time."

He was due to manage Derry in the Ulster senior football championship final against Armagh on Sunday but stepped back from that position on Friday.

Derry defeated Armagh on penalties and Ciaran Meenagh, who took charge in Mr Gallagher's absence, said it had been a "challenging week for everybody".