Orlagh Farmer counts the cost of going the extra mile for Cork

Cork's Orlagh Farmer and Kathryn Sullivan of Mayo battle for possession. Picture: INPHO/Bryan Keane

Cork ladies footballer Orlagh Farmer wasn’t the least bit taken aback by the findings of the recent WGPA report and its highlighting of the unsustainable costs endured by female inter-county players.

What did surprise her, though, was learning the extent to which she was out of pocket from 11 seasons spent representing Cork.

Female inter-county players have long been aware there are few among them fortunate enough to be in receipt of meaningful or regular travel expenses. And so the report’s finding that 93% of female inter-county players do not receive travel expenses didn’t shock Farmer to the same extent it did those not in tune with the inequality female players are forced to tolerate.

The report’s chief effect on the six-time All-Ireland winner was to spur her to take out the calculator and tot up just how much lining out for Cork since 2010 has cost her.

Miles travelled to and from training over the past 11 seasons amounted to 50,160. At 50 cents a mile, her petrol bill came to €25,080. And she quickly adds that this was a generous calculation.

“I only calculated from Midleton, where I live, to the Farm in Curraheen, which would be our most common base over the years. I didn't include games or training sessions in West Cork.

The final figure did surprise me. Somebody put it into perspective on Twitter when they said the figure is akin to an annual salary.

"Luckily enough, I never had an issue of not being able to go to training because of cost, but I am only one person and we shouldn't be out of pocket to play for our county.”

Farmer is in no doubt the 74% of players who are so tired from the game’s mental demands that they struggle to work/study are the very ones who must pay for their own physio, fork out significant amounts on fuel each week and receive little by the way of food post-training.

“If a player is tired from the demands of their job or college, it then takes its toll if that same player is worrying about putting petrol in the car and is having to cook food the night before training because they know they won’t get anything after training and they want to have something with them to ensure proper recovery.

“We are very lucky and grateful in Cork that we are treated well. Our physio is covered, we get hot food. I remember a player from another county telling me they had to bring money to training to contribute towards floodlights."

Government funding for male inter-county players was more than four times greater than that allocated to their female counterparts in 2019 (€3m v €700k).

Farmer, who will line out at half-forward in Saturday’s All-Ireland championship Group 1 fixture against Kerry (Austin Stack Park, 3pm), said the Government must rectify the "massive difference" between the two figures.

"It is time things change."