THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (& WOMEN)
Former President Mcaleese confident of steering integrated GAA to new heights
MARY MCALEESE has a message about what a fully integrated GAA will look like: “Watch out, it will be extraordinary.”
The former Irish president and chair of the steering group for integration says their work is “no less than the modernisation” of Gaelic Games.
And she believes the new body will be a formidable force in Irish society.
Ladies Gaelic, the GAA and the Camogie Association will come under the one umbrella before the end of 2027, with the organisation set to be called the GAA.
“This is a very complex process,” said Mcaleese. “It has taken us 18 months to devise a robust pathway capable of integrating these three organisations in a way that is respectful of all of them and gives comfort to all the codes that their future is going to be very exciting.
“A future to look forward to, one that’s going to make us very proud. It is no less than the modernising of Gaelic games.
“We will only begin to know our strength in Gaelic games when we have this integrated organisation up and running. And then, watch out, it’ll be extraordinary.”
Mcaleese says that putting a date on integration – her steering group has just under four years to align the three organisations from top to bottom – is “a very historic day for Gaelic Games”.
“I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say Gaelic Games is the most extraordinary success story of amateur sport in the world,” she continued.
And for that we have to thank three extraordinary organisations.
“We think of the GAA with 140 years of experience, Cumann Camogaiochta with 120 years of experience, Ladies Gaelic Football with 50 years of experience – 600 Camogie clubs, 1,600 GAA clubs, Ladies Gaelic Football with 1,000 clubs and between them a membership of over 800,000 people and growing.”
Mcaleese said ‘the three fs’ were their biggest challenge – fixtures, finance and facilities.
She added: “It’s a big issue that actually faces us whether there’s integration or there isn’t, the issue of fixtures, finance and facilities.
“They are completely interrelated, which is why we have significant conversations with government, because these are games that are developing in a country in which the population is growing exponentially.”
Mcaleese insists the steering group has compiled a detailed account of the facilities available and what support is required.
She said: “When we went to talk to government we said, ‘Look, we are not looking for a load of money just for the GAA, we are looking for facilities that can be shared with other sporting organisations’.
“I think we are going to see quite a different model for how sporting facilities are used because every amateur organisation is going to say they are under pressure.”
›› Mary Mcaleese joined Camogie Association’s Sinead Mcnulty, project co-ordinator Aoibhe Dunne, GAA’S Larry Mccarthy, Camogie Association’s Hilda Breslin, LGFA President Micheal Naughton, GAA chief Tom Ryan, LGFA’S Helen O’rourke and project manager Mark Dorman at yesterday’s launch at Croker.