Burns: big integration crux will be over inter-county spending
Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Jarlath Burns. Pic: Shauna Clinton/Sportsfile
GAA President Jarlath Burns has moved to allay fears over integration, insisting the association won’t act as ‘ice-agents’ for implementation at club level.
Merging the three bodies of GAA, Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) and camogie association is scheduled for 2027 but the steering group, chaired by former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, was last month informed the timeline was “unrealistic”.
Burns was part of a panel discussion, along with other sporting organisation leads, entitled Future of Sporting in Ireland in Wexford on Tuesday night.
“This is a long-term project,” he admitted when asked to provide a current status. “We have to be so careful. We’re all going to become the GAA but the GAA hasn’t distinguished itself so far in its provision for women.
“We have never provided for women. The camogie association was set up in 1920 and 51 years ago the LGFA was set up. If 50 years ago the GAA had decided to allow girls to play Gaelic football, would the organisation of that be as good as it is under LGFA.
“Would the brand recognition be as strong it if wasn’t LGFA? I doubt it because the LGFA and the camogie association are two wonderful organisations. They exist to promote their one sport.
“We’re not rescuing or saving anybody. We must present ourselves as an organisation that will welcome those two sports in.
“It won’t be a problem at club level. Clubs will find their own level at which to amalgamate. If you’re in a camogie or LGFA club that only promotes those sports, we’re not going to descend on clubs like ice agents demanding everybody comes together.
“If it works that there’s four clubs catering for two parishes - a GAA club, a hurling club, ladies GAA and camogie club – then keep it going. Nobody is going to change that.”
Burns foresees the potential issues arising at inter-county level – linked to the overspend on men’s squads.
“The biggest challenge is, and always was going to be, at elite level,” he surmised. “It’s the expectation of county players from camogie and LGFA coming in and maybe thinking they’ll have the same access to facilities, expenses, gear and a holiday away for winning the All-Ireland. All those things.
“The men get those because that game generates a turnover of €141m. It’s far too much spending €45m on inter-county teams last year. The way I see it is the men’s must come down to meet the women’s.”
Burns' comments come as the first female president of Munster LGFA questioned whether hesitation from certain corners of the GAA is slowing down the integration process.
Waterford’s Lorraine Royle, who assumed the presidency of Munster Ladies Football last week, said better communication is vital to remove uncertainty surrounding how the integrated GAA family will look and operate.
While 2027 remains the deadline for the full merging of the GAA, Camogie Association, and Ladies Gaelic Football Association, the GAA’s Management Committee conceded last month that this deadline is unrealistic and impractical.
“Integration needs to happen for all the codes, especially camogie and ladies football. For us to continue to grow, evolve, and reach our full potential, we do need it and it has to happen,” Royle began.
“Has it slowed down? I think it has slowed down. There are a couple of hiccups that seem to be presenting. Is it hesitation from certain sides of the GAA side of the family? Possibly.
“I think there is so much unknown out there that communication is vital. The information that will come from the integration roadshows with regard to the one GAA family and one club model will give everyone much more confidence in the integration process because to date a lot of it has been going on in the background, whereas we need to lay out how it is going to look for the clubs because uncertainty can make people nervous about change.
“I think people are sort of fearful they'll lose their roles, be it the club secretary or the county board secretary. They're afraid those roles will be lost because all they are hearing is one GAA merged together, so it is just reassuring everyone that everyone will continue to have a place in the GAA family.”
On the timeline for achieving integration, Royle would prefer the process be carried out on a measured and phased basis rather than rushed to meet the 2027 deadline.
“I don't want something to be put through for the sake of putting something through. Perhaps we need to have more of a stepped process to achieving it, and if that means taking a step back for a couple of months, or whatever the case may be, to ensure that we are doing it correctly and that we have all avenues covered, that would be my preferred way of going about it,” she continued.
“But ultimately, it does need to happen and it does need to get across the line. It is like when you are building a house, our snagging list just needs to be worked through.”
A leading priority for Royle during her four-year term is delivering greater visibility for the sport.
“I am a mother of two kids. I have a 17-year-old boy and 15-year-old daughter. They are both on county teams. I see the exposure that my son gets that my daughter may not have always gotten. It is creating that visibility that female sport is every bit as good from a spectator perspective.”
Royle is hopeful her election as the first-ever female president of Munster LGFA will encourage other women into sports administration and is confident the new rules currently being trialled at inter-county level will “enhance the spectacle of ladies football”.
“I think people will be surprised to see a lot more women able to kick two-pointers than they may have thought,” she concluded.
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