Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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After that, the gloves come off and everything is competitive, but we lose a lot of people very quickly when that happens. How is the training of management and coaches organised? We need to balance competitiveness and participation. I am delighted the GAA fun and run includes children of all abilities. The perception in the past was that if a person had any inability, the gate was not open to them. Mentors, the management and officers need training in inclusion.

I am the chair of the local camogie club and I cannot see any rules about minimum participation. That was what was beautiful about the féile. One had the opportunity to play for 30 minutes. Everybody should get 30 minutes but how is the GAA going to write such a thing into its policies, at least at minor level, and have participation?

If we have participation and training two evenings a week, then we will have active children. They will not be sedentary. It will also bring in diet. People from a local gym in my area, the Engine Room, spoke to our girls who are under 14 about diet and things such as the importance of breakfast. We could channel that through the local camogie club. The organisation is wonderful but we need to move past those aged 12 years because the problem is those aged 16 years. What are the GAA's plan for this?