Brian Molloy: Agreement around how to reach single player charter needed

Camogie President Brian Molloy. Pic: Nick Elliott/Inpho

Camogie President Brian Molloy has said there needs to be agreement between GAA, Camogie, and Ladies Football stakeholders on how to reach a single player charter, for male and female inter-county players, over the coming years.

In his foreword to this weekend’s Camogie Congress, Molloy acknowledged the concerns around inter-county team costs in the wider context of the integration process, calling for a more balanced funding model across the codes.

Given the sizeable disparities that currently exist between the respective male and female player charters, the deliverance of a single charter and equal rates across mileage, footwear allowance, and other such areas for male and female players would significantly drive up charter costs, compared to what is being paid out at present.

Where male players receive 70 cent a mile, their female counterparts are given 20 cent less. And that 50 cent flat fee for female inter-county players is not guaranteed for the entirety of the inter-county season, given the pot being pulled from is a mix of Government grant funding and what the respective Camogie and Ladies Football associations are in a position to commit.

Male inter-county players are also currently in receipt of a vouched footwear allowance - three items per year - of at least €375 per player. Female players receive no such allowance.

Molloy believes “steady progress” towards integration has been made but said now is the time to take that “big step” towards moving to a single association.

“It will seem like a giant leap for some, but there is no doubt in my mind that it is the right thing to do and 2027 is the right time to take that step,” he has written.

“There is undoubtedly a degree of concern around the costs of County teams. There needs to be an understanding and agreement around how to glidepath to a single player charter over a period of years and how to build towards a more balanced funding model across the four codes. This won’t happen overnight.

“The GPA have already committed to helping resolve these issues and I believe a pragmatic and workable solution can be found. The prize of a single integrated Gaelic Games Association that provides an equal, equitable, fair and reasonable opportunity to everyone to play our national games is what is at stake.

“Together with one final, coordinated effort this year, we can create in 2027 a new GAA where everyone really does belong.” 

The Camogie President has insisted that infrastructure upgrades, while needed, are “not a prerequisite to integration”. 

He also maintains that there will be little structural change in the merger of the three bodies.

“If we consider the structures that are proposed by the Steering Group on Integration (SGI), one thing becomes very clear – there is very little change from the existing GAA structures. The club, county and provincial committees/councils/boards will largely stay as they were, with additional prescribed appointees to ensure the female codes are appropriately represented.” 

A surplus of €648,579 for 2025 means the Camogie Association has a current bank balance of €3.95m.