A crisis is also an opportunity

IN ALL FAIRNESS

In the GAA calendar pre-2018, the middle of last week would have been filled with the fall-out from the All-Ireland Hurling Final on the first Sunday in September, and the build-up to the football decider on the third Sunday.

Some argue that the GAA is losing out massively in terms of profile from not playing their marquee inter-county games into September but on the flip side, the crowds that filed into FBD Semple Stadium last weekend (7000 across two days) and club grounds around the county in Tipperary indicate otherwise that the club scene is more than filling the void in terms of their Gaelic Games fix, not to mention the closing stages of the camogie & ladies football championships.

Last Wednesday was the day the GAA were to release the recommendations of its Hurling Advisory Committee which were going to be big news in its own right but were overshadowed the previous evening when Dr Mary McAleese stepped down as chairperson of the Gaelic Games Integration Committee.

The former President of Ireland has never been afraid to give her view in relation to the Catholic Church or social injustice, and she wasn’t found wanting in terms of letting people know who she felt was at fault for the apparent failure to achieve the integration of the GAA, Camogie Association, and Ladies Football Associations into one body by 2027.

The murmurings have been there for some time as the deadline approached that it would not be met, and most of that has come from the GAA side, so she is right in that regard. However, the tone of her comments in an interview on RTE radio were such that she felt the GAA didn’t want integration at all. From those at grassroots level, I can’t think of any one in any of the three associations that doesn’t want integration to happen.

The issue with the integration process since it was first established in 2024 was that everything had to be done by 2027 which was never going to be straightforward. Dr McAleese’s committee have been working away over the last three years with regular updates but we never got meat on the bones of what had been sorted and what common ground had yet to be found.

It would appear something happened at the most recent meeting of the integration committee which caused Dr McAleese to feel like the rug had been pulled from under her.

At their respective congresses in 2024, all three associations voted for full integration with Camogie and Ladies Football coming in under the GAA umbrella. However, in recent times a federation model had been mooted where similar, to the Olympic model, the GAA, Camogie & Ladies Football Associations would retain their own autonomy but come under one overarching body if you will. On the face of it, that isn’t a bad idea but this wasn’t what was voted for three years ago and that it wasn’t mentioned as an option at the time now looks like a serious oversight.

Some of the commentary from GAA Congress last February was certainly unhelpful, particularly that of incoming GAA President Derek Kent who hinted the integration process could be pushed out as far as 2034, to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the GAA. On the face of it, a nice symmetry, but I am sure Dr. McAleese has other things in her life that she would like to focus on rather than this whole process dragging out for another seven years while all women, in general, shouldn’t have to wait as well..

In any walk of life, change leads to fear with the focus tending to be on the pitfalls rather than the benefits. Certainly, Camogie & Ladies Football Associations have more to gain from joining the GAA than the GAA has in terms of taking both bodies under their wing. Like with any merger, jobs for the men/women will always be an issue but this is easily overcome.

The key issue holding it all up is money and in a fully integrated body, camogie and ladies football teams would have to, and rightly so in terms of equality, have the same provisions as hurling and gaelic football teams. Some on the women’s side say that don’t expect it straight away considering the considerable difference at the moment in terms of cost, but the GAA are well aware that it would be one of the things they will be attacked for if integration doesn’t come with full equality from the outset. From that end, they are right to be cautious as they will be the ones that would have to bridge the gap in terms of funding but where that comes from is the problem. Cutting spending on the men’s teams is one way, and that is easier said than done. Do you increase admission prices, that won’t go down well among the ordinary supporters. Should the government step as a guarantor in the early years? Not with the priorities of housing and health.

Integration will happen and it maybe that this crisis may turn out to be the final push needed to get it over the line.