Michael Kelly receives fully suspended sentence for assaulting GAA umpire

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Michael Kelly received a fully suspended three-month sentence for assaulting GAA umpire Paul Keane at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. Kelly had pleaded guilty to Section 2 assault. The proceedings were reported on 13 April 2026.

The assault followed an interaction between Keane and Kelly’s 17-year-old son during a minor hurling match at Seán Moore Park in Dublin on 5 March 2023. Garda David Walsh said Kelly ran towards Keane “swinging punches”, but the court heard that other people carried out the more serious assaults and that Kelly was not responsible for Keane’s wrist injury or concussion.

Defence counsel Shaun Smyth said Kelly had gone to get a coffee, believed his son was under threat and made a “stupid split-second decision”. Kelly apologised and undertook to pay €5,000 compensation. Judge Órla Crowe described his behaviour as “reprehensible”, while taking account of his previous convictions, bereavement and subsequent productive life.