Dessie and Joe stick to guns about Pat

Solo Run

Frank Roche & Conor McKeon – 30 June 2017 02:30 AM

Former Westmeath forward Dessie Dolan who was inducted into the Leinster GAA Hall
of Fame is photographed with his wife Kelly and their children Freya (five months) and
Nathan (4) during half-time of last Sunday’s Leinster SFC semi-final. Photo: Sportsfile — Former Westmeath forward Dessie Dolan who was inducted into the Leinster GAA Hall of Fame is photographed with his wife Kelly and their children Freya (five months) and Nathan (4) during half-time of last Sunday’s Leinster SFC semi-final. Photo: Sportsfile

As luck would have it, Dessie Dolan was one of two former inter-county players made available for interview in Croke Park yesterday at an announcement that Ericsson have been appointed as to the role of official technology partner to the GAA.

In the week after he was both inducted to the Leinster GAA Hall of Fame and accused of pushing Pat Spillane under a metaphorical bus, Dolan's presence was a most welcome one.

Guess which issue he was asked more about.

Question 1: "Have you heard for Pat?"

Dessie Dolan: "No, I haven't and I don't expect to. I wouldn't hear from him anyway. Don't have his number."

On Monday, his co-accused, Joe Brolly made his weekly appearance on independent.ie's The Throw-In podcast and reiterated his stance on Spillane who, he said, hadn't been slow in sticking the boot in the opposite direction in the past.

"Pat's said many's the thing about me," Brolly revealed.

"Pat gave a very disloyal interview about me once from the Galway Races. People were ringing me. I was surprised myself."

The precise contents of said interview were beyond Brolly's recall but he did "remember at the time people were ringing me and saying 'bloody hell!'

"I have no issues with Pat. I mean, we wouldn't be friends. But I have no problems with him," Brolly continued.

"Pat's got a massive public profile and he's got a newspaper column every Sunday. He knows what he did. He was over the top. There was no doubt about it."

And with the benefit of four days hindsight, Dolan - who copped a fare dose of flak online for his stance - wasn't for turning either.

"Do I think my opinion has changed from Sunday night? I don't to be honest," he stressed.

"I think it was fairly well rehearsed what Pat had to say. When he was quoting the rules and stuff like that, that raised my suspicions, that was all.

"Media is a game," Dolan went on.

"Pat Spillane has way more experience than I have at this stuff. Pat knows what goes on and he knows when you say things that you have to have your opinion and you stand by your opinion.

"That's just the way it is and Pat knows that, he has his opinion on plenty of things.

"I don't know how Pat prepared for it. I'm just giving my opinion on what happened.

"My opinion was that on the night I thought Pat was fairly well rehearsed."

As it happens, Spillane turned down an invitation to appear on the same podcast as Brolly and as such, we're not expecting any extended olive branches in his column on Sunday.