FINE GAEL SENATOR Evanne Ní Chuilinn has strongly criticised the GAA following Mary McAleese’s decision to step down as the Gaelic games integration chairperson

“If any other organisation decided to behave like this way in relation to women, they would not get away with it,” Ní Chuilinn told The 42.

RTÉ first reported that McAleese has stepped down as independent chairperson of the committee overseeing integration between the GAA, Camogie Association and Ladies Gaelic Football Association [LGFA].

McAleese’s decision comes after the GAA told the steering committee that it could not commit to the 2027 timeline. The GAA reportedly wrote to the group on Monday, proposing to extend the process by up to five years and that they remain fully committed to integration.

In a statement issued to RTÉ, McAleese said the change “creates significant uncertainty around the previously agreed and publicly announced roadmap”.

Ní Chuilinn, who sits on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport, said: “The first person I rang was the GPA to find out if they had any warning about this, and they didn’t.

“I spoke to a senior official in the minister’s department who didn’t have any knowledge of this happening either.

“Sport Ireland were not aware.

“The Department of Sport was not aware.

“The Minister was not aware before it all was in the news.

“That’s not how you do business. It’s very confusing. I don’t think we really fully understand what is actually happening and why they need five more years. If any other organisation decided to behave like this way in relation to women, they would not get away with it.

“A decision was made. This conversation started in 2022, and from what I’m reading in the media, it sounds like the GAA don’t want anything to happen until 2032, so another lost decade. What are they going to say to the young girls and their parents tonight?

“They’re just telling them they’re just not worth it right now, maybe they’ll be worth the conversation in five years’ time, because that’s the message that’s coming out, and that goes against the grain of where we are in this country about women’s sport at the moment.

“The irony of Croke Park hosting 82,000 people to see one female athlete last weekend, and then to come out with this news today. It’s upsetting. And what’s most upsetting about it is that you know deep down I was afraid this would happen. It’s disappointingly predictable.”

It’s understood that Minister for Sport Patrick O’Donoghue is particularly frustrated by the GAA’s suggested new five-year timeline for integration, which he feels goes against the democratic process.

He had been due to meet with GAA officials tomorrow regarding budget requests for hurling academies, but has now requested the attendance of the Association’s senior leadership to escalate talks on integration.

A GAA spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by The 42. The Camogie Association and LGFA have also been contacted for comment. 

“That’s not acceptable that there’s no comments,” added Ní Chuilinn. “That’s absolutely not acceptable.

“The government are not the ones that need to be commenting tonight. Politicians are not the ones that need to be commenting tonight, and the media are not the ones that should be speculating. The GAA should be out explaining what is going on. It’s not acceptable that there will be no comment tonight. It’s wild.”

McAleese was appointed as independent integration chairperson in September 2023. The 75-year-old served as President from 1997 to 2011.

- Additional reporting from Sinéad O’Carroll

Written by Emma Duffy and originally published on The 42 whose award-winning team produces original content that you won’t find anywhere else: on GAA, League of Ireland, women’s sport and boxing, as well as our game-changing rugby coverage, all with an Irish eye. Subscribe here.