Gearóid Hegarty: No reason why men and women still treated differently

Limerick hurler Gearóid Hegarty says passing this weekend's integration motion would transcend sporting boundaries

Wed, 23 Feb, 2022 - 14:06

Eoghan Cormican

Limerick hurler Gearóid Hegarty has called out the “massive chasm” between the treatment of male and female players and said that passing the GPA motion to expedite integration of the GAA, LGFA, and Camogie Association would send an “incredibly powerful message” that transcends sporting boundaries.

The three-time All-Ireland winner said majority support for the GPA motion at Congress this weekend would pave the way for equal treatment of male and female players within the Gaelic Games sphere, a far cry from the difficult reality female players must endure at present.

Hegarty cited Sunday’s All-Ireland club camogie semi-final between Sarsfields of Galway and Derry’s Slaughtneil ending up in Gorey, Wexford as the latest example of how Camogie Association and LGFA members don’t have the same equal access to facilities as their male counterparts.

In a GPA blog post published today, Hegarty also referenced his girlfriend, former Limerick ladies footballer Niamh McCarthy, and how having two different bodies governing camogie and ladies football was forcing players to have to choose between codes.

“Niamh won the intermediate football title in Limerick last year, qualifying for a Munster quarter-final. That game was scheduled for the same weekend as the Limerick camogie finals. A number of dual players were involved. They were told that they would have to make a choice and wouldn’t be considered for the camogie final on the Sunday if they played the football quarter-final on the Friday night,” Hegarty wrote.

“Imagine 21 and 22-year-olds being put in that position. Missing players, they lost the football game. That sickened Niamh as you don’t get too many goes at winning Munster. A lot of those girls have now gone to Australia so the likelihood is they won’t get another chance.

“The management teams involved were doing the best for the teams they were in charge of, but ultimately it comes down to two separate governing bodies in the female codes. That wouldn’t happen in the men’s codes as a solution would have been found by the GAA.”

From fixture clashes to access to facilities to female players being asked to pay to play to minimum standards of care, the 2020 hurler of the year lamented the sizable gulf in how male and female players are treated.

“Niamh experienced the situation where there was no doctor or physio at [Limerick] training sessions. That, to me, is a disgrace. There needs to be at least one of those there every night. That’s a non-negotiable. I wouldn’t accept it at our training sessions.

“I’m in a very privileged position. We are literally left wanting for nothing. For our game days too, we literally just turn up. That’s the hardest thing we’re asked to do outside of actually playing the game. That’s really all a player should have to worry about but it’s not the case for my female counterparts. They don’t even know where they will be playing sometimes just days before big matches. It would never happen on the men’s side of things.

“[Passing the GPA motion on integration] could be an incredibly powerful message. It could actually transcend sporting boundaries; the leading sporting and cultural organisation in Ireland (in my opinion the leading organisation in Ireland full stop) saying that men and women are to be treated equally from now on. In terms of the message that sends out about respect between boys and girls, it’s massive.

“We’re in 2022 now, and there’s no reason for women to be treated differently to men in any walk of life including the games we all love.”