Irish Rugby needed another issue around the Women’s game like the proverbial hole in the head but last night they got another one when Railway Union, one of the country’s leading Women’s teams wrote to fellow clubs accusing Leinster Rugby of gender discrimination.

The club is seeking representation on the Leinster Rugby Council which it says is determined by having a club play at senior level in the AIL (All Ireland League).

In correspondence dating back over two years, Leinster Rugby has said they believe the interpretation of this rule to apply to the men’s game and that this would need to be overturned by a two-thirds majority at the Leinster AGM.

That is what has prompted the letter, circulated last night and seen late by Sport for Business.  Railway Union is the only club in Leinster playing at Senior Level in the Women’s AIL that does not also have a Men’s team at the same level and so has had to take the fight on its own but we understand there is support across the club base.

The problem here, as it has been in the case of the casual part-time advertisement for a replacement Ireland 15’s manager is a gap between the perception and the reality.

It is hard to believe in the modern age that an organisation would wilfully discriminate on the basis of gender.

Things may move slowly in the eyes of those pressing for change but that is often the way and often the best way to ensure that once equality is delivered that it will come about in a way that brings people together rather than pitches them against each other.

True, anger has a place in forcing the change and the #Legacy campaign we saw last weekend was needed to push elements within Irish Rugby, if not the IRFU, toward a realisation that what is there is not good enough.

Read More: What Next for Women’s Rugby

It remains to be seen whether the Men’s teams lining out in big Guinness Pro14 matches this weekend will join the movement and wear a wristband themselves.  We hope they do and that it is seen by all sides as a gesture of support as opposed to one of protest.

What’s the difference? Well, sometimes a raised eyebrow is as effective in winning over people as a raised fist.  The combination is how most change comes about.

Su Carty brings an enormous amount of credibility to the IRFU review of the Women’s game and needs to be given the time, space and resource, alongside Mary Quinn, to come to the right decisions for the future of the game.

In the case of Railway Union’s case that is just as important as the higher profile Manager position.  This club is a powerhouse of the game.  Four internationals on the Irish team at the Women’s Rugby World Cup says a lot about its commitment to advancing the sport.

In gaining access to the committee rooms, those backing the Women’s game on the ground will gain access to the decision-making nexus within the sport.

Philip Browne was castigated in places, including here, for his comments to the Oireachtas Committee less than twelve months ago that there were not enough Women in the game with the right skill-set to take up positions of authority.

We remain sure he deeply regrets the choice of words but in a sense he was making the point that in an amateur administered organisation, promotion to the top table follows a well-worn path and that if Women and those with the Women’s game as a priority are stopped from getting on that path then they cannot get to the end destination of a place at the top table.

Writing to the clubs, Railway Union President Shirley Corcoran says as much.  “This interpretation means there isn’t sufficient voice to represent the women’s game within Leinster Rugby governance structures and it does not allow females with the accumulated rugby wisdom, skill set and affinity for the game to become effective representatives and administrators in Leinster Rugby.”

You either tear up the system or you encourage access and make advance a fair game.

The rules of Leinster do not need to be rewritten.  Interpretation of bylaw 7.1 should not need any more than the existing governing body to say that AIL means Men and Women.

Is that really too much to ask?

Is it really possible to act in any other way at a time when inequality, or here we go again, the appearance of inequality, is totally and utterly unacceptable?

This is an issue which can and needs to be resolved.

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