GAA to consult LGFA, camogie board about Cusack Park access

Westmeath GAA intends to meet with officials from its LGFA and camogie equivalents about the issue of access to TEG Cusack Park for women’s Gaelic games finals.

County committee chairman Frank Mescall made the commitment at last night’s online Westmeath GAA convention, after the Garrycastle club tabled a motion about the issue.

In his report to the convention, county secretary Pat Reilly made some preliminary comments about the difficulties of balancing a finely-tuned fixtures strategy with accommodating ladies’ football and camogie finals at Cusack Park.

These finals, Mr Reilly explained, were frequently scheduled to take place on weekends when major men’s club fixtures were taking place. In order to maintain the standard of the Cusack Park surface, Westmeath GAA had to limit the number of matches taking place and prioritise its own fixtures.

Tabling Garrycastle’s motion later in the meeting, club chairman Peter O’Halloran said that he hoped that Mr Reilly’s initial comments were not an attempt to influence debate on the matter. He agreed that the pitch at Cusack Park needed to be kept “in good order” for county finals.

However, he said that this could not mask the fact that women were not being accommodated in Cusack Park. In the age of “inclusivity”, he added, it was “sadly lacking” in Westmeath, and the status quo is in opposition to the one-club policy being promoted and embraced locally and nationally.

Mr O’Halloran said that he noted the chairman’s (Mr Mescall’s) remarks in his speech praising the LGFA and the camogie board for embracing “equality in fundraising”.

“Sadly, there’s no equality when it comes to county finals being played in Cusack Park,” he added. “It’s a wonderful honour to play in Cusack Park, and it’s not being extended to females.”

Mr O’Halloran said that if Garrycastle’s motion was defeated, it would effectively tell Mná na hIarmhí that they do not have equal access to Cusack Park.

In response, the county secretary clarified that in his earlier remarks to the meeting, he had not tried to influence debate on the Garrycastle motion; he had merely “put [his] thoughts down” in the context of his report to the convention.

By way of further explanation, Mr Reilly said that when the fixtures secretary and the CCC sits down to plan a master fixtures list, they are working with predetermined dates for the start of Leinster club championships. “We need our county finals finished by those dates, and we schedule on that basis, working backwards,” he explained.

“I’m not sure what way the ladies’ board or the camogie schedule their fixtures, but they don’t come to us until September or October to ask for a venue for their finals,” he added. “Then we’re left trying to squeeze them in.”

Mr Reilly said that one of the organisations was offered Cusack Park for their senior final this year, but the time slot they were given “was not suitable to them”.

“Maybe we need to sit down with them about this earlier in the year,” Mr Reilly added.

Mr O’Halloran agreed that this needed to happen. He said that the practice of giving a strong billing to ladies’ football and camogie finals in county grounds had been trialled in other counties this year, and was a great success. The Meath ladies’ SFC final, for example, took place before the men’s SFC final in November.

Mr Mescall said that disappointment was not only the reserve of ladies’ clubs. He said that the Junior 2 football final did not take place in Cusack Park this year, and there were many objections as a result.

“I hope we don’t vote on this motion,” he said, arguing that it would be more appropriate for Westmeath GAA officials to meet with Westmeath LGFA and Camogie Board to work out a solution.

“I think it would be a better way to go instead of having a divisive vote that would send out the wrong message,” he added.

Cullion delegate Dermot Broughan said he supported Garrycastle’s motion, but could see both sides of the situation. He said that his daughter, Emma, has been involved with inter-county camogie with Westmeath for 10 years, and has only played in Cusack Park once. In contrast, his son, Cullion hurler Shane, had played on the hallowed Mullingar turf four times this year alone.

Mr Broughan said that the best course to take was to “open dialogue with our sister organisations”.

Meanwhile, Athlone’s John Connellan said that while he understood concerns about calendar congestion, giving women’s national sports prominence in Westmeath GAA headquarters would generate “great buy-back and PR” and “send out a fantastic message”.

It was decided that the Garrycastle motion would neither be ruled out nor voted on, with the chairman committing to talking to the ladies’ football and camogie boards in mid-January or early February, by which time Westmeath GAA will have finalised its planning report for 2022.

Mr O’Halloran agreed, but said that the outcome was “not really what [Garrycastle] wanted to get out of the meeting”, and urged the county committee to reach out to the LGFA and camogie boards “as early as possible”.