A full day hearing has been allocated to the district court trial of a Dublin Gaelic footballer accused of assaulting a player during a match.
Cormac Costello was a sideline spectator at a game when he allegedly struck the player.
The alleged incident happened during the second half of the Division 2 AFL game between the 25-year-old’s club Whitehall Colmcille and hosts Naomh Mearnog in Portmarnock.
It is alleged the injured party, who was playing in the match, ran towards Costello, who was not togged out and was standing on the sideline as a spectator, and both men fell to the ground.
It is also alleged there was an altercation and the alleged injured party was hit once in the face, leaving him with cuts to his lips.
Mr Costello, of Lorcan Crescent in Santry, north Dublin, denies assault causing harm to Aodan Fee at Naomh Mearnog GAA in Portmarnock on July 6, 2019.
The alleged injured party was treated for his injuries and later made a complaint to gardai, who launched an investigation into the incident.
The Director of Public Prosecutions had directed summary disposal of the case at district court level, subject to a judge considering the issue of jurisdiction.
A hearing date was previously allocated for earlier in January.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and court rules that prevented hearings that had civilian witnesses from going ahead, a new trial date has been set for Monday, November 22.
Swords District Court heard yesterday that there will be between eight to 10 civilian witnesses, video footage and Garda witnesses required to give evidence.
Mr Costello’s defence counsel said the case will take a full day to hear all of the evidence.
Judge Cephas Power marked November 22 as the hearing day but also told the defence counsel and gardai that if for any reason the case cannot go ahead on that date, a week’s notice will be required to be given.
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