“The Catholic Church, Fianna Fáil and the GAA were once described as the three pillars of the Irish state. The power of the former two have been eroded. And their failure to engage and empower women is at the heart of their demise. This is the GAA’s moment.”
Professor of psychology at University of Limerick, Orla Muldoon, has caused controversy after claiming the GAA “supports and justifies sexism.”
Orla Muldoon: The GAA is institutionally misogynistic https://t.co/ObNjUG0f2L via @IrishTimesOpEd
— Irish Times Opinion (@IrishTimesOpEd) December 30, 2020
Orla Muldoon piece.
Muldoon was writing in the Irish Times on Wednesday and claimed the “GAA is institutionally misogynistic.”
She wrote: “The GAA makes women marginal, privileges men, and supports and justifies sexism. And there is a name for that – it is called misogyny.”
Muldoon went on to compare the GAA to the Catholic Church and Fianna Fáil. She believes that if something is not done now to “engage and empower women” in the GAA then the organisation will follow the same fate as the other two.
Professor Muldoon continued: “The Catholic Church, Fianna Fáil and the GAA were once described as the three pillars of the Irish state. Organisations that wove together the fabric of Irish society together.
“The power of the former two have been eroded. And their failure to engage and empower women is at the heart of their demise.
“This is the GAA’s moment. To survive it will have to live up to its own mission to support Gaelic games culture and life long participation for all, and not just for men and boys.”
The biggest obstacles to women’s sport in Ireland are the men and women running the LGFA and the Camogie associations. Forget about merging them with the GAA, they refuse to even engage with each other. My sister has played 2 games in the one day, the one weekend. I’m well versed
— Jamie Wall (@Jamwall7) December 30, 2020
Jamie Wall response.
Former U-21 Cork footballer & hurler Jamie Wall felt Muldoon was going after the wrong target by naming the GAA. Wall believes that the LGFA and Camogie Association are the “biggest obstacles to women’s sport in Ireland.”
The LGFA were criticised recently when they had a late venue change for the All-Ireland semi-final between Cork and Galway. With Parnell Park’s pitch unplayable, the game was moved to Croke Park after the GAA accepted the request.
However, this left Galway with only five minutes to warm up. They went on to lose the game 2-17 to 0-13.
And the Camogie Association and the LGFA don’t want to merge with the GAA, for the same reason they won’t engage with each other. Until such time as we have a ‘Gaelic Games Association’ (irrespective of gender) I don’t think it’s remotely fair for Orla Muldoon to blame ‘The GAA’.
— Jamie Wall (@Jamwall7) December 30, 2020
Wall tweeted: “The biggest obstacles to women’s sport in Ireland are the men and women running the LGFA and the Camogie associations. Forget about merging them with the GAA, they refuse to even engage with each other.
“My sister has played 2 games in the one day, the one weekend. I’m well versed.”
He continued: “The Camogie Association and the LGFA don’t want to merge with the GAA, for the same reason they won’t engage with each other.
“Until such time as we have a ‘Gaelic Games Association’ (irrespective of gender) I don’t think it’s remotely fair for Orla Muldoon to blame ‘The GAA’.”
‘However it is also true that the GAA also makes women marginal, privileges men, and supports and justifies sexism. And there is a name for that – it is called misogyny.’ Powerful piece by @orlamuldoon today on @officialgaahttps://t.co/nl11mC5ObW
— Orla O'Connor (@OrlaNWCI) December 30, 2020
Orla O’Connor.
However, the head of the Women’s Council of Ireland, Orla O’Connor, gave her support for Orla Muldoon’s article.
O’Connor tweeted: “Powerful piece.”