A target of 2027 has been set for integration of the GAA, Camogie Association and Ladies Gaelic Football Association. The amalgamated association will operate under the GAA name and ultimately have one president and one director general. The Steering Group on Integration has set 2027 as the ambition for the historic amalgamation process to come to fruition.
Speaking last week former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, who is chair of the SGI, said,: “The Steering Group on Integration, after 18 months of intense listening and discussion, has now a recommended pathway to what will be the most historic development in Gaelic games and that is ‘One Association’ for all of Gaelic games by 2027. Gaelic games are about to enter a new era. We are now at a point where the will of the members of the Gaelic games associations on integration can be delivered if our recommendations are followed and acted upon and made real.”
The Steering Group on Integration was formed 18 months ago and while the obvious stumbling blocks of the three F’s remain: fixtures, finance and facilities, the members believe the timeline of 2027 for integration is realistic. Camogie Association president Hilda Breslin said: ‘‘Today marks a significant milestone for the Camogie Association, signifying a thrilling new chapter in our journey. Today is filled with excitement as we embark on a path of progress, merging to become one club, one county, one province, one congress, one association.’’ LGFA President Micheál Naughton said: ‘‘We have come a long way since the formation of the LGFA in 1974 and as we prepare to celebrate our 50th anniversary in July, it’s time now to embrace the next chapter in the development of our game.’’
GAA president Larry McCarthy, in one of his last official appearances before handing over to Jarlath Burns at the weekend, also backed the process reaching the milestone in 2027. McCarthy said: “One of the biggest ever sports surveys of its kind, with more than 30,000 responses, produced an overwhelming majority in favor of integration.’’
SIX NATIONS BREAK
FOR SEVENS PLAYERS
Some of Ireland’s leading Sevens rugby players are set to interrupt their preparation for the Paris Olympics to take part in the Women’s Six Nations which for the Irish women gets under way away to France on March 23. Coach Scott Bemand will name a squad of around 35 players this week and it looks like Beibhinn Parsons, Eve Higgins and Aoibheann Reilly are going to be included, while Claire Boles and Katie Heffernan could also be released. The tug-of-war between the two programmes has been a major issue in Irish women’s rugby and the decision to release the players for the XVs squad a few months out from the Olympics represents a change of course from the IRFU. Their selection for the XV’s team will be a disruption to coach Allen Temple Jones’s preparation for the Olympic Games and may affect their ability to peak in the summer months. It remains to be seen if they will be playing in the SVNS Series tournaments in Vancouver and Los Angeles in March. Ireland won their first SVNS Series event in Perth last month.
TRACK STAR CAIN
OPTS FOR IRELAND
Mary Cain, the USA’s winner in the 2014 World Junior Championships in the 3000 meters, has completed a transfer of allegiance and is now eligible to represent Ireland internationally. Cain, who is 27, was deemed the most gifted distance-running prodigy of her generation. She grew up in Bronxville, New York, and qualifies via an Irish grandparent. At the age of 17 in the 1500 meters at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow, Cain became the youngest ever American competitor in the event. In 2019, Cain did a documentary op-ed in the New York Times entitled "I Was the Fastest Girl in America, Until I Joined Nike," which led to hundreds of Nike employees protesting when the company stood backed controversial coach Alberto Salazar. It led to an investigation and an out for court settlement for Cain.
REF HELPED KATIE,
SAYS CHANTELLE
Katie Taylor will box Chantelle Cameron at the 3Arena in Dublin probably at the end of May. The trilogy of fights between the two boxers was confirmed last week when talks between promoter Eddie Hearn and Croke Park had stalled. The English fighter became the first boxer to defeat Katie Taylor in the professional ranks after winning on points in Dublin in May last year. However, Taylor gained revenge last November, winning a famous fight to become a two-weight world champion at both Lightweight and Light Welter-weight. Cameron said: ‘‘Me and Katie both want the fight, it’s just to do with us getting paid the correct money. Croke Park’s not happening, it’s gonna be at the 3Arena, but we are not 100 per cent sure of the date yet.’’ Cameron expressed her annoyance with the handling of November’s bout in Dublin where she contended that Taylor got some help from the referee. Cameron said: ‘‘I would like a fair fight. I beat her the first time and I think I beat her convincingly. The second fight, she beat me, but do I think the referee gave her a little bit of help? Yeah, I do, because of the headbutts, the holding, everything that was going on. That’s my honest opinion, but there is no frustration, because she is the champion. I’ve got to do what any challenger has to do: go to her backyard and snatch the belts back. That’s my plan.’’ Cameron also confirmed that she had parted ways with coach Jamie Moore, describing the split as amicable.
CASEMENT WILL GET
MORE CASH: MCCARTHY
Outgoing GAA president Larry McCarthy intimated before stepping down that the Association will increase the £15 million they have committed to the rebuild of Casement Park in Belfast in the wake of the Irish Government’s proposed €50 million contribution. As part of €800 million in cross-border funding, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the investment for the Belfast venue which is due to host games in the Euro 2028 Championships. Last week work began cleaning and clearing the dilapidated stadium got under way. Some projections claim the final cost of reconstruction Casement Park will be in excess of £225 million. The GAA’s first commitment of £15 million was roughly 20 per cent of the original £77.5 million outlay, which was estimated last July to have jumped to £168 million. Reacting to the Government’s announcement, McCarthy said the GAA were not given notice of the Government funding but welcomed it as a massive injection.
He said: “It’s a significant boost to Casement Park, a significant boost to the project and hopefully now we will see it come to fruition. We have been very patient waiting for it but it’s great that it’s going to get that boost.” Asked if the GAA will now review their £15 m figure, McCarthy replied: “First of all, we need to know what the ultimate price is. That is critical in terms of any consideration of what we do, but we will obviously take that news and consider it at management level.’’
MCFARLAND QUITS
AS ULSTER COACH
Ulster head coach Dan McFarland stepped down last week from his position after nearly six years in charge. Current Ireland Under 20 head coach Richie Murphy will take over on an interim basis until the end of this season. Murphy will take up the post after the conclusion of the Under 20’s Six Nations campaign on March 15. Ulster’s assistant coach Dan Soper will be in charge for their next game against Dragons on Saturday next. McFarland was born in Oxfordshire, but his grandfather was from Belfast and he has spent a lot of his early coaching career in Ireland, first with Connacht and then with the Ireland under-20 and Emerging Irish squads.
TRIPLETS, KID SISTER
LINE OUT FOR BANNER
Brothers and sisters lining out together at club and inter-county level in the GAA is quite common, twins on the same team is a bit of a rarity, but triplets are almost unheard of. But it happened in Clare recently where the 22-year-old Daly triplets Lynda, Susan and Rachel, all played together for Clare in a Camogie National League game against Galway. And to make it even more unusual the triplets, who play their club Camogie for the Scariff/Ogonnneloe club, were joined on the Banner team by their 20-year-old younger sister Jennifer.
ANDREAS BREHME, 63,
SCORED W. CUP WINNER
Former West Germany defender Andreas Brehme, who scored the winning goal in the 1990 World Cup final, died last week, at age 63. Brehme converted a late penalty in the final of the 1990 tournament to secure victory against Argentina in Rome. (Italia 90 was a memorable tournament for the Republic of Ireland, which qualified for the first time ever.) He won 86 caps, scoring eight goals, for his country and won league titles while at Kaiserslautern, Bayern Munich and Inter Milan. A versatile left-back, Brehme was at Bayern from 1986-88 and won the Bundesliga title with them in 1987. Brehme played for Kaiserslautern from 1981-86 and 1993-98. He won the Bundesliga title in 1998 and German Cup in 1996 during his time at the club, with whom he also had a spell as manager from 2000-02. Brehme’s partner Susanne Schaefer told German news agency DPA that he died suddenly from cardiac arrest.
