All-Ireland winning Meath captain was 'seething with anger' after club semi-final defeat

DISTRAUGHT: All-Ireland Meath captain Shauna Ennis was angry after her club Na Fianna were involved in a fixtures clash in December. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Shauna Ennis says she was "seething with anger" after her club's defeat to Glanmire in December's All-Ireland Intermediate Ladies Football Club Championship semi-final. 

The game had been at the centre of a fixtures row after Meath club Na Fianna side won both the Leinster intermediate camogie and ladies football championships. The All-Ireland semi-finals of both competitions were set for the same weekend in early December.

Despite the Camogie Association and LGFA being warned that the fixture clash was looming if Na Fianna won both provincial titles, neither game was rescheduled.

They ended up playing the camogie semi-final against Eglish in Louth at 2pm on December 2nd and then the football semi-final at 1pm the following day.

FINAL HEARTBREAK: Danielle O'Leary of Clanmaurice in action against Shauna Ennis of Na Fianna during the AIB Camogie All-Ireland Intermediate Club Championship final. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

"Before the Leinster finals were played, our club chairman had written emails to the Camogie Association and the [Ladies Gaelic] Football Association saying, 'Look, I'm just letting you know that we are in two Leinster finals. There's a chance we could win both of these Leinster finals and your fixtures for the All-Ireland semi-finals are for the same weekend'," Ennis, an All-Ireland winning captain with the Meath footballers, told the BBC's The GAA Social podcast.
 

"Both associations were pre-warned and they knew this was a possibility that this could happen.

"We won the two Leinster finals. The minute we won, I was like 'We need to get on social media now and start saying that we're in All-Ireland semi-finals on the same weekend. Please can this be changed'. We really tried to bring as much attention to it."

Na Fianna felt that one of the games could have been moved.

Huge thanks to @thomasniblock and Oisín for allowing me to talk about this issue. We would really appreciate it if people could sign our letter imploring the lgfa and camogie associations to work together. https://t.co/BqJEtDLYmY https://t.co/YZBL3xULd0

— Shauna Ennis (@EnnisShauna) February 21, 2024

"The LGFA came back and said 'No, we can't move it. We need two weeks to make up the programmes for the All-Ireland final' or something like that. A kind of nothing response really to be honest," said Ennis.

"We were basically told the best we could do was play one on the Saturday and one on the Sunday."

Na Fianna won the semi-final against Eglish. 

"Then it was straight into the dressing rooms, straight into the ice baths, getting food into us, trying to recover as best we could," said Ennis.

"Then it's getting on a bus at around 5pm and driving about 300km down to Glanmire, staying the night in Glanmire and waking up the next day to play at 1pm.

"There's nine girls that play outfield that start on both teams. We lost the semi-final by four points. There wasn't much in it throughout but they definitely had a stronger second half than us. Glanmire then went on to win the All-Ireland final.

"Given a chance, and not having to play the day before, we could have definitely put it up to Glanmire and it could have went our way. Unfortunately, we tired in the second half. Someone made a good point that it wasn't that we were physically tired, we were just mentally tired with decision-making."

Glanmire's Orlaith Roche manages to evade the challenge from Na Fianna's Meabh Downey and Leah Devine during the LGFA All Ireland Intermediate Club Semi final match in Mallow. Picture: Howard Crowdy

Na Fianna went on to lose the camogie final to Kerry side Clanmaurice. 

"After that football match, I was just distraught, seething with anger because it should never have come to that," said Ennis.

"Anyone who tried to come near me I kept saying, 'This is not fair, this is a joke, this shouldn't have happened'.

"I'd been training for 12 months, you put your life on hold and all you are asking is a fair shot at it.

"Our club getting to an All-Ireland semi-final might never happen again, the likelihood of that happening is very slim, so you definitely couldn't talk to me for a week after that game. 

"That inhibited me preparing for an All-Ireland camogie final because I was still so angry and raging about the football. I just never remember being like that at the end of a game before. I have lost All-Ireland finals in Croke Park! I know what it's like to lose a big game.

"I would love to have had people from both associations at that game and see what it meant to people. They made their decision so quickly, saying it can't be changed, but people have feelings and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I don't think they really thought it through when they made that call."

Ennis expressing her anger comes as the Camogie Association, GAA and LGFA set 2027 as their target date for integration between the three organisations. 

"Our main issues at the moment is the communication between the LGFA and the Camogie Association," said Ennis.