THE decision not to prosecute Rory Gallagher for domestic abuse has been called into question by lawyers representing his wife Nicola.
In a Facebook post earlier this month, Nicola Gallagher claimed she had suffered two decades of physical abuse from her estranged husband.
Mr Gallagher, who played for and coached Fermanagh GAA, stepped down from his role as Derry GAA manager following Nicola’s allegations.
It has since been revealed that Mr Gallagher was arrested in 2021 but not charged in relation to the domestic abuse claims.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland has confirmed it investigated claims of domestic abuse while two files were passed to the Public Prosecution Service in January and June last year, but it was deemed there was insufficient evidence to proceed.
However, Ms Gallagher’s legal representatives have formally requested the decision letters linked to the case, although the Public Prosecutions Service insisted it has been in contact with her.
A PPS spokeswoman said, “The PPS wrote to Ms Gallagher in January 2022 and September 2022 in connection with two separate files we received from police to advise her that the available evidence in each case was insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction.
“In each case, we offered to speak with her to discuss in detail the reasons for the decision, should she wish. We also informed Ms Gallagher of her right to request a review of the decisions.
“We have this week made efforts to contact Ms Gallagher having become aware of her concerns from media coverage.”
Meanwhile, Derry GAA said they have investigated into how emails sent to them detailing domestic abuse allegations against Mr Gallagher were missed.
Nicola Gallagher’s father, Gerry Rooney, said he sent five emails to Derry GAA between April and July last year.
However, Derry GAA did not respond to either claiming that it was likely that the emails were sent to a “defunct email address” – even though the address in question was up until last week, up on their website.
A Derry GAA spokesman said: “Following a full examination of the ‘administrator.derry@gaa.ie’ email address by the GAA at Central Level, Derry GAA was advised on completion of that audit to remove the email address from its website as it is no longer in use.
“The current website was built in late 2019 and the contact page was created on January 13, 2020.
“It contained the administrator.derry@gaa.ie email. It was edited once, on Wednesday past, to remove the email address at the request of central GAA following their audit.”
Fermanagh GAA confirmed last week that no complaints about Mr Gallagher had been received by them.
A spokeswoman added: “While we will not make any comment on a specific allegation or allegations, we can state that Fermanagh GAA has never received any official complaints.”
Meanwhile, funding body Sport NI has said it will meet with GAA officials to discuss the claims .
A spokeswoman said: “Over the coming weeks Sport NI intends to engage with senior officials in the GAA to understand how it has responded to recent allegations.”
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