It may have been the last Friday before Christmas, but December 19 last year was a hectic day for the GAA Management Committee.
That day in Croke Park they supported the ethics and integrity committee’s recommendation to continue the commercial relationship with Allianz.
The chilly announcement to confirm this on Friday night, when it is hoped the bad news will be a thing of the past, suggests the GAA senior brass were rushing to get out the door before the holidays begin.
They weren’t like that at all. The agenda also included a speech from Mary McAleese, Chair of the Integration Steering Committee.
There McAleese first threatened to resign after rejecting the committee’s assessment that the 2027 integration deadline was “unrealistic”.
“During the subsequent discussion, it was recognized that the project was of exceptional strategic importance for the Association,” the minutes of the meeting say. “A lot of work has been done, significant progress has been achieved.
“However, the consensus of the Coiste Bainistíochta was that 2027 represents an unrealistic target for full and complete integration. In their view, a phased implementation would represent a more measured approach to better manage any risks and take into account any reasonable reservations that the Association may have overseas.
“This opinion was rejected by the Independent Chair, who expressed disappointment with Coiste’s opinion.”
GAA CEO Tom Ryan later played down the difference of opinion and McAleese ultimately did not resign.
She participated in the subsequent roadshow, which was aimed not only at collecting feedback but also at educating people about the proposed integration roadmap. In a communications vacuum of their own making, this was one of the most positive steps taken by the governing body.
What McAleese read in the GAA letter on Monday was little different from what she was told 10 months ago. Diplomatically, 2027 was an ambitious year. Risk had to be avoided. A step-by-step approach was the right decision.
So her decision to resign on Tuesday was not as surprising as the timing. The Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) said in a statement that there had been “constructive discussions” regarding the revised dates at a management committee meeting last Monday night. “The feeling was that significant progress had been made,” the source said.
The choreography surrounding McAleese’s departure and the high level of quality used in her farewell shots were such that some in Croke Park felt it had been planned for some time.
Her statement that there were people “who are not entirely comfortable with the idea of women being included in decision-making at the highest level of Gaelic sport” offended the female members of the Coiste Bainisti.
But what angered them most was her description of the committee as “less than impressive” and “short-sighted.” Especially when McAleese’s performance at that December meeting, according to some of them, left much to be desired.
There, the work of the governing body was questioned by female members of the Management Committee. McAleese was asked whether operational and financial audits had been carried out. Her thoughts on what a governance model within an integrated GAA organization would look like were also offered. She was also asked how the governing body plans to close the gap between costs and support available to men and women from different counties.
Negotiations repeatedly became heated. According to one participant, McAleese said she was not shown any respect and called the body “cowardly.” “And that’s where the rot began,” said one official.
McAleese’s irritation was understandable. The GAA approached her. At that stage, she devoted a little more than three years to the project. She was the only independent person on her committee and was determined to achieve integration within the given time frame.
But from the very first press conference in September 2024, the feasibility of the 2027 deadline was called into question. Two days before the GAA’s governing committee meeting in December, McAleese told the joint Oireachtas committee that 2027 was achievable, despite concerns from some members.
But that simply wasn’t the case. Not enough has been achieved. Not enough factors taken into account. Beyond the financial needs at county level, women’s football is growing at such an exponential rate that the risk of being stopped by being included in a larger organization must be avoided.
To achieve parity as stated in the original proposal, it would take several millions – and that doesn’t count submissions. Toilets and showers in some clubs are for both sexes only, as they are not intended for women.
When Jarlath Burns mentioned the €500 million cost of integration last year, he explained that this would ultimately be the price of “mandating” services for women.
Likewise, his announcement that inter-county spending would double to €90 million was the ultimate prediction because that is what equality or “parity of respect” meant, as his predecessor Larry McCarthy mentioned at a press conference in September 2024.
The one club model is seen with some validity as evidence that integration already exists at grassroots level, but Croke Park believes they can only represent 20% of the clubs in the country. And they obviously exclude those women’s football and camogie clubs that are part of other clubs in a different code.
“Just the idea that you can create a structure on top of three organizations does not understand how important Gaelic sport is to people,” one source said. “It’s like putting lipstick on a pig and then saying it’s not a pig.”
If it took Golf Ireland five years to reach less than 250,000 members, I’d like to think that three Gaelic bodies with a combined membership of around 900,000 would merge into just over four. McAleese must have known this, but the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Associations were then responsible for continuing to sign up for what was a timeline charade.
Perhaps, as Sports Minister Patrick O’Donovan suggested, McAleese’s departure will attract attention. It has certainly put back on the agenda (at least for now) a topic that many of those wringing their hands this week had little interest in or simply forgot about until the former President of Ireland burned the earth.
But her words certainly left a mark. “I think what she did was vicious,” said one senior GAA official. “I think it was vindictive, I think it was ego taking over. If she really cared about integration, she would have gone to the minister and said, ‘These are the issues I’d like to look at.'”
McAleese’s successor has his work cut out for him because there is still much to be done. Kevin Foley, the former President of the Employment Tribunal, has been suggested as a possible replacement. Given his success on the Football Review Committee, Jim Gavin’s name was also mentioned.
The integration baton was not passed on: it was abandoned. It will first need to be picked up before the process can begin.