Eimear Ryan: What's in a name? Words matter in integration process

The appointment of Mary McAleese as chairperson of the integration process is welcome. But will camogie still be called camogie, or will it be called what it actually is – hurling played by women?

CHAIRPERSON: Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese has been appointed chairperson of the integration process - the mammoth task of unifying the GAA with the Camogie Association and the LGFA. Pic: Ray McManus/Sportsfile 

For a while there, it was all quiet on the integration front, but now – with the appointment of former president Mary McAleese as chairperson of the process – the mammoth task of unifying the GAA with the Camogie Association and the LGFA is back on the media agenda. (To be fair, it never really went away, but there were matches on; and administrative drama, no matter how intriguing and popcorn-worthy, always takes a back seat to action.) 

It’s encouraging to see someone of McAleese’s calibre appointed, and important, too, that a woman will join Mark Dorman, the Croke Park chief who has been appointed as integration’s project manager, to oversee the process. McAleese’s legal and political brain – as well as her reputation for bridge-building – will stand her in good stead in what promises to be a thorny and fascinating undertaking.