It’s been a long time coming, but female inter-county players are set for a boost in financial support, finally matching their male counterparts.
With the continued rise of camogie and ladies football and in an age of striving for equality on the playing field, the news will come as a welcome boost to all involved, not least the GPA and WGPA.
Public funding for female inter-county players is now confirmed to increase to €2.4m overall, matching the funding set aside for male players. That figure sees funding rise from €700k by a total of €1.7m, ensuring equal funding for players. For female players, it equates to a rise in funding from approximately €400 to €1200.
While funding made available to male players is in the region of €3m, the trebling of financial support for female players will mean male and female players will be supported by a €1200 award. No change will be made to funding for male inter-county players.
In a statement released on Monday, the Gaelic Players Association welcomed the follow-through from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media on expanding final support on offer to female players.
“Since the publication of the Levelling the Field Report by the WGPA in 2020 ongoing lobbying efforts have been taking place to correct the imbalance in funding distribution. This has intensified in recent weeks with meetings with Minister of State at the Department Jack Chambers and a GPA submission to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht.
At all times the views of the GPA were understood and indeed echoed by both members of the committee and the Department who showed a genuine willingness to address this issue. We welcome the fact that the Department has followed through on those sentiments and thank Minster Catherine Martin, Minister of State Jack Chambers and Department officials.”
Live camogie this weekend
Separately, we’re kicking off our live camogie coverage for the 2021 season this Saturday as Kilkenny welcome Dublin to John Locke Park in Callan. Catch the game in full on-air, online and in-app with a 2pm throw-in time.
