Complex issues are generally best solved by collaboration and a meeting of minds on the best way forward.
The GAA, Ladies Gaelic Football Association and Camogie Association have been working together at the highest levels of each, chaired in a group by former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, and have been putting in hard yards meeting with clubs and other units to determine the issues that might serve as barriers, as well as the problems which integration will solve.
Additional thought from another perspective is always welcome though and today academics at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS), Athlone Campus, and Ulster University, Belfast, both members of the Sport for Business network, have launched a policy brief that sets out five key recommendations for how integration might proceed in Gaelic games on the island of Ireland.
The report has been produced based on research by Conor Meyler and Dr Aoife Lane (both at SHE Research Group, TUS) and Dr Katie Liston (Ulster University).
Together, the research team is exploring changing views on gender equality and what this means for the future of national governing bodies of men’s and women’s sports.
Drawing on their collective expertise, the researchers offer five recommendations which include:
- Planning for a full integration process
- Setting out key principles and values
- Prioritising female representation
- Developing a funding model based on equity, and
- Building a new organisation for Gaelic Games.
The brief is underpinned by a review of international research on mergers and integration, interviews with leaders involved in the formation of one organisation for golf in Ireland, and consideration of the unique cultural context of Gaelic games.
Conor Meyler, a doctoral candidate at TUS’s Athlone Campus, is leading the project.
“This research will not only have implications for Gaelic games but also for women’s sport in Ireland in creating a more gender-equitable society.,” he said.
“As a current club and intercounty player, I am truly excited at the thought of being part of an integrated association in which all players are treated equally.”
“Integrating separate organisations is always a challenge and, as the research shows, this is especially the case for those separated along traditional gender lines,” added Dr Katie Liston.
“The research team are committed to the dissemination of impactful research that will benefit women’s sports and build towards real and meaningful gender equality.”
“Conor, Katie, and I are each deeply embedded in Gaelic games and are keen to see how a new organisation evolves to support males and females equally across all facets of Gaelic games,” said Dr Aoife Lane.
“We are hopeful our work can be helpful in this process.”
Sport for Business Perspective
The document runs to 25 pages but is worth the investment of time for anyone with an interest in this area, which should be anyone in the administration of sport.
It raises interesting points about how sport especially can defend itself as a “haven of meritocracy” and that this can lead to women being marginalised post-merger.
It has a strong review of the Golf Ireland merger which has been studied by the Steering Group, and also references the lessons to be learned from the merger of Cricket in Australia which effectively amounted to a takeover.
The report recognises the “significantly different budget and asset profiles” across the three organisations and sees this as an area where national leadership and government funding assistance will be important.
This is no dry theoretical document. It has been created by three leaders who are embedded within sport and equality. Aoife Lane was the founding Chair of the Women’s Gaelic Players Association back in January 2015.
All-Ireland Winner Meyler is highly respected and comes from a players perspective and Liston has transferred a successful sporting career across multiple sports into an equally strong academic one.
This really is a document well worth reading.
