Burns had contacted Naas GAA to urge caution against Gallagher’s appointment as a coach to the club’s senior football team.
Gallagher, in a statement to the Irish Independent last week, then called for the intervention to be “formally withdrawn and that the contents of the correspondence (are) retracted”.
Gallagher said he would be left with no alternative but to pursue legal action if that didn’t happen.
As part of his contact with Naas, Burns wrote an email in which he outlined his concerns at the prospective appointment of Gallagher, in light of the division it would potentially cause in the club and the wider implications it could have for the GAA.
Burns stressed in his email that Naas had the right and the independence to proceed with the appointment.
Gallagher faced allegations of domestic abuse from his estranged wife Nicola, who made them in a Facebook post in the week of the 2023 Ulster football final when he was Derry manager and was preparing the team to play Armagh.
Gallagher also used his statement to “categorically deny the allegations levelled against me,” reiterating how two PPS (Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland) decisions, on foot of investigations into the allegations, found that he had “no case to answer”.
Jarlath Burns
Speaking to Patrick Kielty on the Late Late Show GAA special, Burns said: “I made it clear when I became president that I wouldn’t be a hands-off president.
“I did take the opportunity to contact Naas and let them know the reservations that I had. Given the values and principles that we have in the GAA, which are very important to us.
“One of them is underlined by the ‘Gamechanger’ initiative, which I launched on November 25, 2024 which really shone a light on the area of gender-based, domestic and sexual violence.
“If Naas GAA had decided, ‘thank you for that advice but we’re not going to take it’, that was me finished with them (that correspondence).
“As you know, clubs organise themselves. We are the most democratic institution in Ireland.
“But I wouldn’t be true to myself, as the person whose number one job is to protect the values of the GAA, if I didn’t at least point out to somebody somewhere that I had reservations.
“Once they decided what they were going to do, that was none of my business anymore. But remember, that was a private correspondence that I entered into.
“It’s a tragic situation for a family, it should not be getting discussed on the Late Late Show but it’s sad that it is…
“There is always a way back for people, the GAA is not interested in cancel culture, and we have told Rory that.
“Rory is aware of a way back for him, and I wish him and all his family well and I hope we can reach a resolution on all of this,” Burns said.
Gallagher initially stepped back from his role with Derry on foot of the allegations but in the days after he then formally stepped down.
Rory Gallagher
He issued a statement at the time stating the allegations had been investigated and dealt with by the relevant authorities.
In his recent statement to the Irish Independent, Gallagher said the GAA president had engaged in an “unprecedented move in an effort to sabotage my potential appointment”.
Gallagher also suggested that Burns’ contact with Naas wasn’t the first such intervention of this nature he has made.
“With great power comes great responsibility. Mr Burns’ actions are premised on a misguided and self-serving compulsion to share his concern,” Gallagher said.
“Regrettably, whilst this is the first time Mr Burns’ actions have been made public, this is not the first time that I have been informed that he has taken matters into his own hands with respect to me and my family life.
“By Mr Burns’ own admission, his motivation is the “controversy” surrounding my “personal life” that “has created division”.
“These words should be a matter of concern to not just me and my family, but to every GAA member.
“It seems that social media commentary and controversy now equates to a licence for presidential intervention,” Gallagher said.