Mr. Tom Parsons:

As we said, there are many complexities with intercounty games. Even in my club and in handball we see that equality is very organic. It becomes quite complex at intercounty level. When boys and girls go to the pitch on Saturday at age ten, 12 or 14 at club level they are treated equally. Once girls go to county level, unfortunately there is a gap. We have closed it a little bit compared to what it was last year but it is still a big gap. Intercounty players who are also club players and captains of clubs are important stakeholders. They are role models, as has been said.

We need to ensure the value proposition for inter-county players who do not want anything in return. I refer to the value proposition for being amateurs and for being role models. This is so we can generate the 83 cent in every euro that will go back to grassroots and make sure that it does not cost them the money to play. Last year, we were frustrated because there was a sense among players that if you are not middle class and you cannot afford to play, then Gaelic games are not for you. This is because there were no direct expenses for female players and they were picking up an awful lot of the bills. That is really important for us. Players will not be bystanders. Independent representatives of players and inter-county players are very significant stakeholders. For there to be any success in any initiative, you need to over-communicate and over-collaborate and I hope we can collaborate more with the governing bodies on this journey.