McAleese hails growth of Ladies Football at awards

PRESIDENT Mary McAleese acknowledged Ladies Football as the fastest growing sport in Ireland when she presented the awards at the inaugural O’Neills/TG4 Allstar awards at the Citywest Hotel in Dublin at the weekend.

Ms McAleese pointed to the attendance figure of 30,000 at the recent All-Ireland final between Mayo and Dublin as “clear, hard evidence” that the profile and popularity of Ladies Football had shifted into a new gear. “The best is yet to come,” she declared.

Champions Mayo had four of their players selected on the team, including team captain Helena Lohan. However, top exponent Cora Staunton was a notable absentee after having been sent off in a club game a week earlier.

Annalissa Crotty from Waterford picked up her seventh award, while Mayo’s Christina Heffernan was a winner for the sixth time. Among the others was Kerry’s Kacey O’Driscoll, daughter of All-Ireland medal-winner Ger O’Driscoll from Valentia.

Ms McAleese described the awards as hugely important as they gave due and proper recognition to the enormous contribution made to Gaelic games by women from every corner of the island.

“Tonight the spotlight widens beyond the image of men and boys so often conjured up wherever two or more gather to discuss our national games. In that widened spotlight the role of women is gathering huge momentum,” she added.

Credit for the “staggering” levels of participation in the game was the result of the commitment of the people involved at every level. It was reflected in the trebling of the number of girls participating in the past five years and the involvement of more than 85,000 members in 80 clubs.

“Your faith, your fidelity, your love of this game has brought it out from the shadows right into the mainstream.

"You have given it a new future, an exhilarating and exciting future. That is good news, not simply for Gaelic games, but for families, schools, parishes, communities, counties and for our country because it is a huge investment in civic strength,” the president said.

Ladies O’Neills/TG4 Football All-Stars: 1. A. O’Donoghue (Kerry), 2. N. O’Shea (Mayo), 3. H. Lohan (Mayo), 4. M. Kavanagh (Dublin); 5. A. Crotty (Waterford), 6. M. Farrell (Dublin), 7. E. Flaherty (Galway); 8. A. McNally (Dublin), 9. M. O’Donnell (Waterford); 10. L. Cohill (Galway), 11. C. Heffernan (Mayo), 12. M. McGing (Mayo); 13. M. O’Rourke (Waterford), 14. G. O’Shea (Kerry), 15. K. O’Driscoll (Kerry).