'It's unbelievable' - Kyle Hayes victim's mother slams All-Star award as 'disgusting'

The mother of the victim of an assault from Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes has said she was “disgusted” that Hayes was awarded an All Star, saying that the hurler's violent disorder incident had a “profound effect” on her son.

Speaking to Joe Duffy on RTÉ's Liveline, the mother of Cillian McCarthy, who was the victim of Limerick hurler Kyle Hayes’ violent disorder in 2019, said her “world fell apart” after the incident.

Her son suffered serious facial injuries, including a fractured eye socket during the incident in Limerick in 2019.

Mr Hayes was found guilty of violent disorder in December 2023 and was given a two-year suspended sentence in March of this year.

Mr Hayes was also told to pay Mr McCarthy €10,000 in compensation for the injuries he suffered.

Elaine McCarthy added that the incident impacted on the wider family and that her son Cillian McCarthy has been “forgotten” about in the media coverage.

The five-time All-Ireland winning hurler was recently awarded a GAA All Star and journalist Pat Nolan yesterday told RTÉ’s Liveline that off-field behaviour was not discussed by the 12-person panel ahead of awarding nominations.

Nolan, a GAA journalist who was on the All Star judging panel, said there were suggestions among the panel in the aftermath that it should consider “developing guidelines for how players are selected” in the future.

In response to prompts by the host that Mr Hayes’ convictions were not raised before he was nominated for the award, Ms McCarthy said “since when did convicted criminals become role models”.

"His eye was put back into his head, his face was full of blood. I just went, oh my lord, what happened you?,” she said.

Ms McCarthy described the effect of the assault on her son, saying he went from "enjoying life" to becoming "totally withdrawn, totally into himself, cross, which wouldn’t be like Cillian".

“The kicks that were put to Cillian’s head were ferocious. He was lying on the ground in the foetal position and covering his head asking them to stop. The more he asked them to stop, the more ferocious their kicks got.

“Only for the gardaí arriving on that night, Cillian may not be alive today.”

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