Joe Brolly has flatly rejected claims that he apologised to Colm Cooper for criticising his upcoming testimonial dinner.

Appearing on The Late Late Show last night to promote his new autobiography 'Gooch', Cooper claimed Brolly texted him to apologise for comments he had made about the groundbreaking corporate dinner in Dublin on October 27, which is expected to raise €250,000 and has greatly divided opinion within the GAA.

Two charities will benefit from a proportion of the proceeds - the Kerry Cancer Support Group and Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children in Dublin as well as Kerry GAA and Cooper's club Dr Crokes.

Writing in the Sunday Independent recently, Brolly claimed the event had gone against the amateur ethos of the GAA.

"It is a great pity Colm has done this. The point of the GAA is supposed to be volunteerism and community activism. The question is supposed to be, 'What can I do?', not 'What can I get out of it?'," he wrote.

"As an icon of Irish sport, he could have set an example of altruism, but instead has chosen to enrich himself. What could and should have been a night the GAA could have taken great pride in, has instead become something cheap and self-serving."

Cooper said last night: "On a serious note, Joe actually sent me a text this week to say 'sorry about all the fuss'. He said he wishes there wasn't the reaction that there was and that it's gone overboard. And he's apologising for it.

"So he's obviously changed his tune since. And he fully respects that I'm entitled to have a testimonial dinner if I want. There's players doing dinner dances and speaking after events. There's brand ambassadors, there's players doing launches all the time. So unfortunately for the GAA, there are players earning money. So if that's the argument, I don't really get it."

However, Brolly later took to Twitter to say he hadn't apologised to his fellow Sunday Game panellist.

"I didn't apologise to Colm for anything I said. I stand by every word. I said I didn't intend him to be demonised as a result.

"This is a serious principled debate. I said face to fact to Colm he was wrong in doing this. I stand by that absolutely."

 

I didn't apologise to Colm for anything I said. I stand by every word. I said I didn't intend him to be demonised as a result.

- Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) October 6, 2017

This is a serious principled debate. I said face to face to Colm he was wrong in doing this. I stand by that absolutely

- Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) October 6, 2017

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