A prankster who featured on national radio claiming to be the Galway hurler Joe Rabbitte, and said it was unladylike for women to play Gaelic games, especially camogie, was fined £100 with £100 costs and ordered to make a £250 contribution to the Galway camogie team when he appeared at Galway District Court yesterday.
Padraig Walsh (56), of Friar's Hill, Galway, a part-time street trader, was charged with making a phone call for the purpose of causing annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety to others, contrary to Section 13.1 of the Post Office Amendment Act 1951, on August 31st last.
Insp Tony O'Donnell said Walsh phoned an RTE chat show and purported to be the then captain of the Galway hurling team, Joe Rabbitte.
He made derogatory remarks about women involved in Gaelic games. The comments caused annoyance to Mr Rabbitte and to members of his family.
Members of the public subsequently phoned Monaghan's Garage in Headford, where Mr Rabbitte works, and said they would no longer buy cars there. Other irate callers phoned Mr Rabbitte's mother and she had to stop answering the phone.
Mr Joe Rabbitte gave evidence that he had not heard the interview until near the end. He felt obliged to publicly distance himself from the comments, which he did not agree with.
"I got the wrong kind of publicity for a day in the national papers. There were photographs of me with the heading that I was against women", he said.
Walsh told the court he had been "mystified" at the reaction to what was meant as a joke. He claimed he did not know he was live on air at the time.
Walsh went on local radio the following day to apologise to Mr Rabbitte and his family.
During the RTE Morning Show, hosted by Maura O'Neill, when Walsh was purporting to be Joe Rabbitte, he said it was very unladylike and unhealthy for women to play Gaelic games and suggested that they should stick to tennis and golf. He said he had no desire to go to Croke Park to watch fat women running around. He said the rest of the Galway hurling team and his own fiancee held the same view.
RTE apologised on the following day's Morning Show for any hurt caused to Mr Rabbitte and his family.
Judge John Garavan said that the offence was serious because not only was Joe Rabbitte a well-known hurler and household name, but he was captain of the Galway team at the time, and Walsh had claimed that he represented the views of the team.