'I think the GAA are hoping we'll forget about it'

Cork's Ashling Thompson celebrates with her team mates and the O'Duffy Cup after the match ©INPHO/James Crombie

Ashling Thompson has questioned the GAA’s desire for integration following Mary McAleese’s resignation as chairperson of the steering group.

In one of a number of parting shots, the former President of Ireland accused the GAA of 'lacking in vision' after being informed that it could not commit to a definitive timeline for integration. The GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association had committed to achieving integration by 2027, but incoming GAA president Derek Kent recently suggested 2034 as a more realistic target.

“The GPA are not willing to accept it,” the Cork camogie star told Newstalk’s Claire Byrne Show.

“And I firmly believe that most people across the country won’t be willing to accept that. But I think the GAA are just hoping that we’ll forget about it. We’ll be put in the long grass and that this can be a conversation that will happen over the next five to 10 years.

“If the incoming president believed that 2027 wasn’t realistic, why were we still being told that 2027 was the roadmap?

"And if 2034 is the ambition, then clearly say that because that’s eight years away. For a young woman playing inter-county camogie today, that’s an enormous amount of time.”

Thompson added: “I want the woman who puts on a Cork jersey to know that her association values her as much as the men who put on a Cork jersey. We want equal recognition, equal opportunity, proper investment.”