The 42

TOM RYAN, THE GAA’s director general, has said the association is “just not ready” to amalgamate with the LGFA and Camogie Association by 2027, adding that the deadline for integration is “too ambitious”.

He said the GAA’s commitment to integration remains “firm and absolute” and refuted accusations of misogyny “in the strongest possible terms”.

It comes after Mary McAleese on Tuesday resigned from her position as chair of the Integration Committee overseeing the amalgamation of the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association, when it became clear the process would not be complete in 2027, as planned.

The former President of Ireland delivered a stunning critique of GAA management as she accused senior figures of not wanting women making decisions at the top level of Gaelic games.

McAleese said “the commitment to integration has evaporated”.

She added: “The GAA management committee was quite frankly less than impressive, and very disappointing to me as a long term GAA supporter to meet a body that was so lacking in vision for the future of the GAA.

Former President of Ireland Mary McAleese was appointed as independent integration chairperson in September 2023. INPHO INPHO

“I hate to say this but I suspect that there are people who are not entirely happy about the idea of including women in decision-making at the top level of Gaelic sports.” 

Speaking to Des Cahill on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland this morning, Ryan said there had been a planned Special Congress in October to launch the 2027 integration.

He said that the deadlines set and agreed by the GAA were too ambitious, and the organisation needed more time to see certain aspects of the administrative process through.

“We recognised, we’re just not ready to do that,” Ryan said.

We’ve missed a deadline, it’s our own deadline that we have missed. In hindsight, I think what we were aiming for proved just a little bit too ambitious so we just need to refocus really, recast our plans.

He added: “Above all, our commitment remains firm and absolute.

‘Our future is together’

“But there were a couple of specific things that we needed to get approval for at this juncture, and they were going to be tricky.

“First we have proposals around the common membership, reciprocation across the three organisations, that’s universal membership fees, membership systems and so on. 

“The second part was the organisation structures from the club level up to the national governing body.

“The membership piece is ready. The structures piece is not.” 

Ryan added that it was difficult to envisage the new organisation when it was not clear what the structure of the organisation would look like.

Asked if the GAA was now less committed to integration, Ryan said: “No, I can answer that absolutely. The commitment remains firm and absolute.

“I don’t see a future for us as a standalone organisation, promoting and offering male sports only. Our future is together.

“We will be far stronger as a combined organisation. I believe that. The GAA believes that. I know my colleagues in ladies football and camogie believe that.

“All we are looking at here is we’ve missed a deadline, our own deadline. Our job now is to just recast things in light of that, to learn from that and push ahead.”

Phased implementation 

Ryan said he could not offer “a precise timetable” to when integration would take place. He said he could envisage having the structures proposals, which he earlier cited as a key part in the delay, ready next year.

“A key element will be a phased implementation, not a single big bang,” Ryan said. 

Asked to respond to accusations of misogyny which have been voiced in the public debate round the issue, Ryan said, “I can’t accept that”.

He added: “I would refute that in the strongest possible terms. I accept in the course of a project like this there will be different perspectives, and different points of view and that’s fine, but I can’t accept that as a charge.

“I’m very, very proud to be part of the GAA. I’m proud of what it is and does. It’s an inclusive organisation. It’s a family orientated organisation. It’s a progressive organisation, and in leadership terms both nationally and locally there are countless women who play a huge part in guiding and driving the organisation.” 

Ryan said upwards of 30% of club executives were female and upwards of 30% of clubs have adopted the One Club model – where all codes are promoted equally.

“Personally speaking, camogie and ladies football are a huge part of my club life and family life in my house, and that’s no different from thousands and thousands of GAA members everywhere so I would reject that charge absolutely.”

Written by Ronan Early 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.