Ryan hails Special Congress vote in favour of gender-balance

By John Harrington

GAA Director General, Tom Ryan, has hailed the Association’s decision to establish a gender-balance of its Central Council Management Committee as a step in the right direction.

At today’s GAA Special Congress 79 per cent of delegates voted in favour of Motion 9 which proposed a minimum of 40 per cent female or male representation on Coiste Bainistí.

“It's a good thing to do but it's not revolutionary or anything like that,” said Ryan today.

“I wouldn't over-state it. It's the right direction for us to move in. It reflects where society is going in all manner of enterprises and undertakings.

"It's not even that the GAA shouldn't be any different. The GAA should be a leader in these kinds of things so I think it's to the credit of the Association.

"I do know there were some differing views and that's okay too, people are entitled to express a view. I think what was good about the last few weeks is that it was never really on the agenda and then it was something we talked about and argued about but it's done now.

"It's something we needed to get done and now we can move on."

Currently three of Coiste Bainistí’s 19 board members are female which equates to 16%.

The ratification of Motion 9 today sets in motion a three-stage process towards gender balance by initially increasing the size of Coiste Bainistí to 21 members in 2024 of which nine will be female.

From 2027 onwards, a 16-person Coiste Bainistí will include a minimum of seven females. As a miniumum, three of the four provincial representatives, one of the two independent appointees, one of the two representatives of Congress, as well as the LGFA and Camogie representatives must all be women from Congress 2027 onwards.