Eimear Ryan: As a brand, camogie is buzzing, but still scope for improvement

Pictured at the launch Of The Littlewoods Ireland Camogie League finals. (Front row L-R) Antrim’s Lucia McNaughton, Galway’s Emma Helebert, Littlewoods Ireland Head of Marketing Catherine O’Toole, Cork’s Laura Hayes, Wexford’s Ciara O’Connor (Back row L-R) Mayo’s Meabh Delaney, Cavan’s Aideen Coyle and Josephine Maguire, Wexford’s Aideen Brennan, Wicklow’s Ciara Kelly

Camogie has been surfing a wave of good news over the last month. The positive press releases keep coming: a lucrative new seven-figure championship sponsorship deal from Carmel Naughton and Glen Dimplex, worth €250,000 per year for the next five years; a new agreement with RTÉ, guaranteeing broadcast of at least nine live camogie matches per year until 2027; and an innovative new championship arrangement whereby all of this year’s Munster hurling fixtures will have camogie matches as curtain-raisers. Provincial championships have always taken a bit of a backseat in camogie, with its open-draw All-Ireland system, so it will be interesting to see if this new format raises the stakes.

What’s more, plans for integration with the GAA – long supported by camogie president Hilda Breslin – seem to be moving along nicely. Last weekend, 97% of camogie congress voted in favour of integration, and the GAA’s new five-year strategic plan sets ‘producing a shared vision of One Association with a roadmap to make it happen’ as a priority. This accelerates the timeline for integration considerably when compared to the previous report ‘Towards 2034’, although GAA president Larry McCarthy did sound a few characteristic notes of caution in terms of the time frame.