Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 December 2019

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport, Tourism and Sport

Minority Sports and Women's Participation in Sport: Discussion.

Photo of Mark DalyMark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have seen this in Kerry affecting women's Gaelic football. One might say that soccer, hockey, rugby, Gaelic football and hurling are competing sports. However, within each of those sports, women are being treated unequally for facilities, training time, pitch access etc. to the point where women often have to use inferior pitches. Is that something the women's hockey players are coming across? It is not just because an existing sporting organisation has facilities which seem to be empty. Some organisations are not making them available to women, which shows the inequality women are facing in sports. There is no requirement on organisations that are given money. We got around the London Irish one by saying that because we got lottery funding we would have to allow them on the pitch as long as they did not bring a ball and suddenly a ball appeared. However, there is discrimination against women within their own sports. Does it happen in hockey where the men's association might have control over a pitch limiting women's access?

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