Dr Mary McAleese and the GAA 'pause and reflect' statement

[ChateauMargaux]

What does the 'pause and reflect' message from the GAA mean for the One Club model and integration of the sporting organisations in Ireland?

It felt like an unprecedented statement of equality for women. I know that being an amateur sporting organisation means it is not comparable to professional sports but this really seemed like a historic moment that could herald changes in many other sports...

Is Dr Mary McAleese right, is it simple misogyny or are the GAA correct is their position that it is simply not possible at this time?

Is this just a hiccup? Will the government force the GAA to act?

I would love to hear what others think?

I think McAleese is spot on and delighted she's calling them out for it. I am heavily involved in my local gaa club and my 3 daughters play. We are an integrated club with the one Board of management. It's quite a young board and has good representation from women on it. Our membership fee is the same and we have equal access for men and women. But there is definitely a feeling sometimes that the men's teams get more coverage on social media often the better pitches and training times, it's subtle though and slowly changing.
I know the situation I describe is not similar in other clubs so I would like to hear from them, there's been some examples given on radio where people have said membership fee is different, priority to male teams on access to pitches, changing rooms etc. In one case I heard women's teams having to pay €2 per head towards lighting if they're training on floodlit pitches but boys teams don't.
I am also sick of the rhetoric that the men's county teams pull bigger crowds to croke park, that to me is irrelevant at grass roots level. In our club we have more female teams and female members and the women's teams pull in more silverware. Plus spectator numbers are similar at club level league and championship matches.
My final point is that as women we need to stop going on about being the backbone of our clubs keeping them ticking over with our jersey washing, sandwich making, taxiing. The truth is women are coaches, managers, board members steering the club as much if not more than the men. We are a fundamental integral part of our clubs and have contributed to the women's game growing exponentially. In my opinion the gaa need a successful integration if they are to survive long-term