A GAA fan who stormed the pitch during the 2014 All Ireland semi-final replay yesterday revealed he wore a wig to sidestep his one year ban.
Mick Barrett was involved an a notorious incident five years ago when he had to be held back by five stewards as he attempted to confront referee Cormac Reilly.
“Mayo Mick” was hit with a 12-month ban from attending GAA matches but the life-long Mayo supporter has admitted he wore a disguise and “attended all games”.
The married dad of two, who is returning to the Gaelic Grounds for the Mayo-Galway qualifier match this weekend, told the Irish Daily Mirror: “I got a year ban from football and it was all GAA matches, needless to say I didn’t carry out any of it.
“I was at all the games. I had a wig on me all the time for the year.”
Mr Barrett said he laughs about it now but he still has a “big problem” with the injunction he received.
He added: “I got banned for a year for what I don’t know?
“I had a big problem with that too.
“There was no way out of it. I did try. I spent two days ringing [GAA HQ] in Dublin but I got nothing from them.”
Mick watched the 2014 Mayo-Kerry semi-final replay which the Kingdom won 3-16 to 3-13, in the Gaelic Grounds, Limerick with his wife, son and daughter.
He said: “The daughter tried [to hold me back] but she didn’t succeed.
“I was wondering what he was at and wondering what he was thinking about. Did he want glasses or something to see what was gone wrong and did he know what he was doing?”
The performance of referee Cormac Reilly was widely ridiculed in the aftermath and Mick, in his early 50s, said: “That man, I’ll never forget him. He robbed an All Ireland off us. There was awful decisions made.
“Needless to say if I had caught up with him you wouldn’t know what would’ve happened.”
Recalling his emotions on the day the construction worker said: “[Mayo] were by far the better team on the day. It was of course [a great chance].
"Anybody could have beaten Donegal in the final that year.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening in front of my eyes.”
Mick described his dash on to the pitch as a “once-off” and he cannot see a repeat performance happening again, which will be a relief to Limerick GAA stewards.
He added: “I’m getting too old for that now. I have a laugh when I think back on it.
“There’s ifs and buts about it, I would and I wouldn’t [do it again], you know that sort of way.
“Sometimes we get fed up with [things].”
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