‘Men only’ snooker rule irks visitor

February 1986

A woman who was refused permission to play snooker in the bar at Rosslare Golf Club has written to this newspaper to complain.

[NAME WITHELD] from Wicklow was told by a barman in the clubhouse that snooker was ‘for men only’.

She and her husband paid a visit to Rosslare two weeks ago. They played a game of golf with another couple and went into the bar for a drink afterwards.

‘We decided to play a game of snooker, but were quickly informed by the barman that women were not allowed to play,’ she says.

Jim Hall, secretary of Rosslare Golf Club, has confirmed that a restriction on snooker to males only is a rule of the club.

‘Snooker is for full members only, and women can’t be full members of the club.’

Under golfing union rules, women are not eligible for full membership of golf clubs. They are entitled to associate membership only, a position which allows them no say in the overall running of club affairs.

Mr Hall said no member of the women’s section of Rosslare Golf Club had yet complained about the snooker rule.

‘We don’t get any complaints about equality. Everyone is completely happy with the situation,’ he said.

And not unless there was a demand from the lady members would a change in the rule be considered, he added.

[COMPLAINANT] feels it is high time women demanded and achieved equal treatment with men in sport as in all other walks of life.

‘In the 1980s, there is simply no rationale for such a situation, so we look forward to speedy changes. In the meantime, Rosslare Golf Club might at least consider making its snooker table available to women. Such a gesture would not infringe Irish Golfing Union rules,’ she says.

At Wexford Golf Club, where the bar is equipped with a pool table, women are not prohibited from joining in. ‘Women are entitled to play pool if they want to,’ a spokesman for the club said.

‘The women in our club don’t have voting rights either, but that is something we can’t do anything about,’ he added. ‘That is governed by the Golfing Union, and in turn by the Royal and Ancient Order of St. Andrew.’