Brian Molloy, President of the Camogie Association, spoke with conviction yesterday about the need for greater attendance and support at the Glen Dimplex All-Ireland Camogie Finals in Croke Park.

He remains focused on a long-term goal of filling the stadium and believes the onus is now on members, counties, politicians, and the wider public to follow through on their stated support for female athletes.

We sat with him at Croke Park in the company of all the captains competing in the three finals to be staged this Sunday.

SfB: Brian, at the start of the year, you said your ambition was to see a full Croke Park for Camogie. Is that still the goal?

BM: Absolutely. That remains very much the focus. It won’t happen overnight, and it’ll take a significant collective effort over time. But first and foremost, we need to start with ourselves.

We need our own members to come to All-Ireland Final Sunday, regardless of whether their county is competing.

Right now, we’ve fallen into a pattern where clubs only organise buses and activities if their county team is involved.

If they’re not, the support disappears. We need to move past that. The All-Ireland Final should be a festival of Camogie – a celebration for everyone who plays, supports, coaches, and loves the sport.

SfB: Is this a wider cultural issue within the GAA and Irish sport?

BM: I think so. As a society, we need to consider that we have four All-Ireland finals and only two of them, men’s football and hurling, are consistently full houses. The only difference is gender.

If Kerry supporters will fill Croke Park for a men’s football final, then why wouldn’t they travel for a historic intermediate Camogie final? The same question applies to Cork, Galway, Armagh, and others. These counties have massive GAA traditions, and their female athletes deserve equal support.

We can’t keep accepting the idea that supporting male players is a given, while supporting female players is optional. That needs to change.

SfB: You’ve called on others to show leadership here too. What do you expect from influencers, politicians, and others who voiced support during the recent shorts/skorts debate?

BM: Many of them were vocal and supportive in May, calling for fairness and choice for female athletes. Now it’s time for that support to translate into real action.

If they meant what they said, then this week their social media should be calling on followers, constituents, supporters to get into Croke Park on Sunday.

It’s about physically showing up. If you posted a TikTok or press release in May, you should be encouraging people to attend now.

SfB: What about the value proposition? Is it a good day out for supporters?

BM: It’s tremendous value. For €30, you get three high-quality games and a full day of entertainment. Plus, we’ve got under-14 teams from all over the country parading in the stadium. Every county is represented in some way.

So this isn’t just about the counties in the finals. It’s a national celebration of Camogie and of women’s sport. There is no excuse for people who claim to support equality not to show up and make it count.

SfB: Are you concerned that by setting the goal of a full Croke Park, you’re creating a standard that sets up disappointment if attendance falls short? The average attendance at the rightly feted Women’s Euro 2025 Finals in Switzerland was just over 21,000.

BM: No, I don’t think so. We have the numbers. Camogie is a sport with a 121-year history. If every registered Camogie member came on Sunday, we’d have 124,000 people. That’s our potential base—and that doesn’t include the wider Gaelic Games community.

The hurling and football finals sell out every year. We need to stop accepting that women’s games can’t do the same. We’re not just asking women to come—we’re asking men, boys, everyone to support the female players who put in just as much work and deserve the same level of backing.

SfB: There’s been some talk about Hill 16 being closed for women’s finals—what’s the thinking there?

BM: It’s partly about creating the best atmosphere. If the crowd is spread too thinly across the stadium, you lose some of the energy. But there were also remedial works on the Hill that meant it wasn’t an option this year.

Ideally, I’d love to see Cork or Galway supporters “take the Hill” in future finals. It would create a brilliant buzz, especially among teenagers. That’s something we can build toward with better marketing and media strategy.

SfB: Are you optimistic about attendance this year? What kind of numbers are you hoping for?

BM: It’s hard to know. Last year we were under 30,000. The LGFA got to 48,000 this year, and I’d love to see us break 40,000. That would be a big bounce and a sign of progress.

Ultimately though, it’s not just about this year. It’s about building year on year, and about changing attitudes. We need to believe it’s not just aspirational to fill Croke Park for a women’s final – it’s achievable.

SfB: You mentioned earlier your support for giving players the choice between wearing shorts and skorts. Was that an important moment for the Association?

BM: Yes. It was never about banning the skort. It was about choice. If some players want to wear shorts, and others want to wear skorts, that should be their call.

The special congress gave us a proper structure to do that, and it’s worked. On Sunday, you’ll see Armagh players wearing skorts and others wearing shorts. Cork is the same, most will wear shorts, but some still prefer skorts. That’s how it should be. The point was fairness and respect for individual preference.

SfB: Final word, what’s your message to the public ahead of Sunday’s finals?

BM: If you’ve ever said you support women in sport—now’s the time to prove it. Come to Croke Park. Support the players. Be part of something special.

This is about more than just one game day. It’s about changing the narrative around female sport. And that starts with showing up.

We’ll be there on Sunday, will you?

 

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