MARY MCALEESE

 

Mary McAleese has been appointed to be the Independent Chairperson of discussions between the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association as they move toward closer integration.

The former two-time President of the Republic of Ireland is an inspiring choice for this role which will have a huge impact not only on Women’s sport but on the sporting landscape in general over the coming years.

A Law Graduate from Queens University, she worked as a Barrister and an academic there and at Trinity College Dublin, as well as in the media for a spell with RTÉ.

She was elected as President in 1997, and then unopposed for a second term in 2004.

She described the role of the Presidency as one of building bridges and that is what she will now be charged with across the different elements of the Gaelic Games ‘family.’

 

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This is the tenth edition of our Sport for Business listing of 50 Women of Influence in Irish Sport.

Read more about the list and nominate who you think should be a part of it in 2022.

We are proud to do so again this year with AIG, an organisation that has pledged its commitment to equality in its partnerships with Gaelic Games, Tennis, Golf and more, for whom “Effort is Equal” and with whom we have ambitious plans to extend the reach of this annual celebration of the Women who are making a difference.

This year’s list will be drawn as before from the worlds of leadership, partnership, storytelling and performance.

We began this journey in 2013 when challenged that we would never be able to produce a list of twenty Influential Women in Irish Sport. The 20 stretched to 30, then 40 and 50 and it still does not do justice to the talent that is out there.

This year once more, to keep things fresh we will introduce at least 30 per cent of fresh names from last year. That will be the hardest part to have some names replaced but if it was too easy it would be of less value.

The list we will build over the coming weeks is a snapshot of those women who are making a mark on how sport is played, consumed, grown and delivered.

They are part of making the role of women in sport unexceptional by being exceptional in what they do.