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National Forum

What Now For Merger Of GAA Camogie And LGFA

(Oldest Posts First) - Go To The Latest Post

Personally I think it may not be achievable by 2027 or 2028 but certainly within 3 or 4 years and if government was smart decrease gaa funding if they have no concrete strategy set out by the end of the year

Gaaforlife2023 (Longford) - Posts: 1344 - 09/09/2026 15:31:18    2693306

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Replying To Seniorleague:  "Norman foley I just heard lamented the gaa for its attitude towards women,and then two seconds later claimed the gaa would fall apart if women went on strike,thereby unintentionally admitting that women have been given plenty of leadership roles within the gaa.
Pretty much completely contradicted herself in the same sentence. Woe betide the interviewer who points this out however."
Unfortunately too many people just don't understand the issues, and are too blinkered to actually learn what those issues are. It's similar to how there was all that public outcry about "the GAA not allowing camogie players to wear shorts" when the fact of the matter was that it was absolutely nothing to do with the GAA in the first place.

Overall, this is not a case of "not wanting women in the GAA". Women already occupy all sorts of roles in the GAA up to the highest level, as well as doing all sorts of everyday tasks in every GAA club in the country, and the input and effort from all of them is appreciated every bit as much as the GAA appreciates the efforts of all the men involved in it. Just as both the Camogie Association and the LGFA have many men involved at all levels, and I'm sure they appreciate the men every bit as much as they appreciate what their female members and volunteers also do.

Instead, this is about the structural and financial challenges of integrating three different Associations, particularly when all indications are that one of them would be expected to do much of the heavy lifting on behalf of the other two.

Pikeman96 (Wexford) - Posts: 4011 - 09/09/2026 15:40:04    2693309

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Let the LGFA and Camogie merge first with support from the government. Then move to take the next step. This is about money and governance. It's not anti women. My club is a one club organisation that makes sure the ladies are looked after. People are shooting their mouth off now without thinking. This is a complicated issue.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 8929 - 09/09/2026 15:55:21    2693315

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RTE interview yesterday:

https://www.rte.ie/sport/football/2026/0908/1590769-mcaleese-steps-down-from-integration-role/

GreenandRed (Mayo) - Posts: 8762 - 09/09/2026 15:56:40    2693316

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "Let the LGFA and Camogie merge first with support from the government. Then move to take the next step. This is about money and governance. It's not anti women. My club is a one club organisation that makes sure the ladies are looked after. People are shooting their mouth off now without thinking. This is a complicated issue."
Surely that should have been the first step, seems a bit farcical.

Bon (Kildare) - Posts: 2685 - 09/09/2026 16:55:12    2693323

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Replying To Gaaforlife2023:  "Personally I think it may not be achievable by 2027 or 2028 but certainly within 3 or 4 years and if government was smart decrease gaa funding if they have no concrete strategy set out by the end of the year"
We already get way less than soccer as it is

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20664 - 09/09/2026 17:02:13    2693324

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "Let the LGFA and Camogie merge first with support from the government. Then move to take the next step. This is about money and governance. It's not anti women. My club is a one club organisation that makes sure the ladies are looked after. People are shooting their mouth off now without thinking. This is a complicated issue."
Any merger of the 3 was a case of the rich relations paying for the 2 poor ones.

Seanfan (Roscommon) - Posts: 917 - 09/09/2026 17:22:15    2693329

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Replying To Pikeman96:  "Unfortunately too many people just don't understand the issues, and are too blinkered to actually learn what those issues are. It's similar to how there was all that public outcry about "the GAA not allowing camogie players to wear shorts" when the fact of the matter was that it was absolutely nothing to do with the GAA in the first place.

Overall, this is not a case of "not wanting women in the GAA". Women already occupy all sorts of roles in the GAA up to the highest level, as well as doing all sorts of everyday tasks in every GAA club in the country, and the input and effort from all of them is appreciated every bit as much as the GAA appreciates the efforts of all the men involved in it. Just as both the Camogie Association and the LGFA have many men involved at all levels, and I'm sure they appreciate the men every bit as much as they appreciate what their female members and volunteers also do.

Instead, this is about the structural and financial challenges of integrating three different Associations, particularly when all indications are that one of them would be expected to do much of the heavy lifting on behalf of the other two."
Absolutely.

For example its I think €150 to register a team with the GAA - which translates into €5 a head for a team of 30.

LGFA charge €30 per head to register a player or €900 for a team of 30.

In a merger which stands? If the ladies move to the GAA model, where does this lost income now come from?

As it stands a pariosh with a GAA, LFA and Camogie club have 3 executives, 3 fundraising committees, 3 PROs etc. best will in the world its hard to see this many people staying involved following a merger SO will that mean the 3-4 people who do more lifting in a GAA club will now see there workload expand/double??


County teams, would a county have to equally fund all county panels - most accept the current GAA only level is unsustainable so where would the income come from to equalise or would counties have to cut back? This would I think be another severe penalty on those counties' who operate a dual approach.

wexford2012 (Wexford) - Posts: 148 - 09/09/2026 17:51:19    2693335

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The three organisations would want to come out very quickly and state exactly what are the sticking points to getting this project over the line. We get that money is a big issue but that cannot be let derail the whole project.

Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2420 - 09/09/2026 19:08:56    2693337

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "Let the LGFA and Camogie merge first with support from the government. Then move to take the next step. This is about money and governance. It's not anti women. My club is a one club organisation that makes sure the ladies are looked after. People are shooting their mouth off now without thinking. This is a complicated issue."
All you'd be doing there is repeating a process twice, unnecessarily. The bottom line is that there's going to have to be a stronger acceptance, at the top table of the GAA, that resources will have to be shared (in most cases / clubs there already is acceptance) and that more investment will have to be put into the Ladies game to allow for the sustainability of that game in the long term. And as part of that investment, Government assistance will have to be sought. I don't think it is realistic to expect that women's county teams, for example & the example Jarleth Burns has used, will be able to get the same financial resources in the short term as their male counterparts. However to start on the road to parity, there will have to be an acceptance that significant upfront investment will be needed in the ladies game to give it a chance to increase participation & financial sustainability.

Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2420 - 09/09/2026 20:15:42    2693343

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Replying To TheFlaker:  "Let the LGFA and Camogie merge first with support from the government. Then move to take the next step. This is about money and governance. It's not anti women. My club is a one club organisation that makes sure the ladies are looked after. People are shooting their mouth off now without thinking. This is a complicated issue."
The problem is that for many stakeholders involved,it is perceived as a very UNcomplicated issue.

Progressive citizens,commentators and journalists will pretty much automatically assume that misogyny and sexism are the motivations behind any decision that doesnt go their way,(and I dont blame them considering their opinions are rarely challenged).

I dont pretend to know much about this debate tbh but i wouldnt think there is a single metric by which women are equal to men in the GAA.

Seniorleague (Galway) - Posts: 328 - 09/09/2026 20:50:55    2693345

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Replying To Square_B:  "All you'd be doing there is repeating a process twice, unnecessarily. The bottom line is that there's going to have to be a stronger acceptance, at the top table of the GAA, that resources will have to be shared (in most cases / clubs there already is acceptance) and that more investment will have to be put into the Ladies game to allow for the sustainability of that game in the long term. And as part of that investment, Government assistance will have to be sought. I don't think it is realistic to expect that women's county teams, for example & the example Jarleth Burns has used, will be able to get the same financial resources in the short term as their male counterparts. However to start on the road to parity, there will have to be an acceptance that significant upfront investment will be needed in the ladies game to give it a chance to increase participation & financial sustainability."
Just to be clear my point is that if the GAA amalgamation process was never a runner and it was announced that the LGFA and Camogie associations were going under the same umbrella it would not be straightforward and would turn into a huge mess. And that's on a far smaller scale than this.

There has been some crazy comments from both sides. And stories are coming out now about ladies and underage teams being treated as second class citizens. That still happens but it isn't like that in every club. And the language being used by some is not helpful at all.

TheFlaker (Mayo) - Posts: 8929 - 10/09/2026 10:18:38    2693365

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It was always going to end this way, especially with the characters involved and what was at stake.

ohwow (Leitrim) - Posts: 322 - 10/09/2026 10:32:46    2693368

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Replying To Square_B:  "The three organisations would want to come out very quickly and state exactly what are the sticking points to getting this project over the line. We get that money is a big issue but that cannot be let derail the whole project."
They already have done that. Both Burns and Tom Ryan were on the radio yesterday. I also heard the head of the Camogie association yesterday.
None of them have said the whole project is being derailed or falling apart. They're all still very committed to it, but agree that it's going to take longer than was hoped.
The way some media reacted yesterday would make you think the GAA pulled the plug. Nothing of the sort has happened. It's been clear for a long time that they've said full integration will take longer, but that many phases such as single membership will be in place much sooner.

WanPintWin (Galway) - Posts: 3053 - 10/09/2026 10:40:02    2693370

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It would not surprise me if the president of the gaa received a phone call or a visit from a person that mattered to soften the blow and try to get things back on track. With appointments to key positions comes responsibilities and a chance to showcase leadership. We now sadly live with pressure groups daily; we forget that the gaelic athletic association is a sometimes very slow-moving organization that we all have lived with for the past 150 years almost.

Gender based equality conversations that include yesterday's hero's is on a two-way street basis for everyone.

Meanwhile back to the drawing board.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 3416 - 10/09/2026 10:53:46    2693374

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Replying To Pikeman96:  "Unfortunately too many people just don't understand the issues, and are too blinkered to actually learn what those issues are. It's similar to how there was all that public outcry about "the GAA not allowing camogie players to wear shorts" when the fact of the matter was that it was absolutely nothing to do with the GAA in the first place.

Overall, this is not a case of "not wanting women in the GAA". Women already occupy all sorts of roles in the GAA up to the highest level, as well as doing all sorts of everyday tasks in every GAA club in the country, and the input and effort from all of them is appreciated every bit as much as the GAA appreciates the efforts of all the men involved in it. Just as both the Camogie Association and the LGFA have many men involved at all levels, and I'm sure they appreciate the men every bit as much as they appreciate what their female members and volunteers also do.

Instead, this is about the structural and financial challenges of integrating three different Associations, particularly when all indications are that one of them would be expected to do much of the heavy lifting on behalf of the other two."
Excellent points there. This is being portrayed as anti women and its far from it.

Dothesimplethingswell (Sligo) - Posts: 128 - 10/09/2026 11:04:49    2693375

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Replying To Square_B:  "All you'd be doing there is repeating a process twice, unnecessarily. The bottom line is that there's going to have to be a stronger acceptance, at the top table of the GAA, that resources will have to be shared (in most cases / clubs there already is acceptance) and that more investment will have to be put into the Ladies game to allow for the sustainability of that game in the long term. And as part of that investment, Government assistance will have to be sought. I don't think it is realistic to expect that women's county teams, for example & the example Jarleth Burns has used, will be able to get the same financial resources in the short term as their male counterparts. However to start on the road to parity, there will have to be an acceptance that significant upfront investment will be needed in the ladies game to give it a chance to increase participation & financial sustainability."
I think it would be more important to get attendances at Camogie and Ladies Football games up to around the level there is at men's games , and therefore revenue from gates and sponsorship, up first if you are talking about achieving true parity and financial sustainability?

Viking66 (Wexford) - Posts: 20664 - 10/09/2026 11:44:11    2693382

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Replying To WanPintWin:  "They already have done that. Both Burns and Tom Ryan were on the radio yesterday. I also heard the head of the Camogie association yesterday.
None of them have said the whole project is being derailed or falling apart. They're all still very committed to it, but agree that it's going to take longer than was hoped.
The way some media reacted yesterday would make you think the GAA pulled the plug. Nothing of the sort has happened. It's been clear for a long time that they've said full integration will take longer, but that many phases such as single membership will be in place much sooner."
The first we heard from them was yesterday when the whole thing blew up on foot of the chairs resignation. They haven't been communicating about the process & the issues, very little has been said heretofore. If the crux of the matter is money well tell people that's the case. Clarity about the issues would help the refute the claims of misogyny that are floating about unchallenged. If everyone was as committed as they say they are, it shouldn't take 5 years to sort this in all fairness.

Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2420 - 10/09/2026 11:54:31    2693386

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Replying To supersub15:  "It would not surprise me if the president of the gaa received a phone call or a visit from a person that mattered to soften the blow and try to get things back on track. With appointments to key positions comes responsibilities and a chance to showcase leadership. We now sadly live with pressure groups daily; we forget that the gaelic athletic association is a sometimes very slow-moving organization that we all have lived with for the past 150 years almost.

Gender based equality conversations that include yesterday's hero's is on a two-way street basis for everyone.

Meanwhile back to the drawing board."
What a bizzare post.

Square_B (Leitrim) - Posts: 2420 - 10/09/2026 12:10:33    2693392

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Replying To Square_B:  "What a bizzare post."
Are we not dealing with a bizarre case / situation?
Yes we are.

supersub15 (Carlow) - Posts: 3416 - 10/09/2026 12:40:14    2693400

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