An LGBTQ+ inclusive Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) club has called for \u201coutdated\u201d regulations in the organisation to be addressed.<\/p>\n
Several members of Cork city\u2019s Na Laochra Aeracha, founded to provide a safe and inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ individuals, are ineligible to play due to boundary regulations.<\/p>\n
The LGFA uses the 2010 city limits, rather than the broader city boundary agreed by councils in 2019, and the club does not meet the minimum level of players within this boundary needed to register their women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n
Research shows that up to 50% of girls in Ireland drop out of sport by the age of 20, with many citing confidence, social pressures, and lack of inclusive environments as key factors.<\/p>\n
Equivalent LGBTQ+ inclusive teams in Dublin (Na Gael Aeracha) and Belfast (Aeracha Uladh) have been successfully integrated into local GAA and LGFA competitions without such restrictions, the club says, and the men\u2019s football team successfully registered with the Seandun league and championship this year.<\/p>\n
Dean Kinsella, public relations officer and club co-founder, told The Echo: \u201cSeandun have been very friendly and helpful to us.\u201d But for their women\u2019s team: \u201cWe\u2019re trying to get to the 15 players within the city boundary, but unless the players are all registered, they\u2019re not insured so they can\u2019t even train with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re the only LGBTQ+ club in Munster. I think a more \u2018People over policy\u2019 approach should be considered.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe rules are very backward and outdated, I would have expected the LGFA board to be more supportive and welcoming to us after we reached out to them. We are just trying to promote better inclusion in sport for woman.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cIt has taken us over two months of back and forth emails and calls to understand what is required and how we can proceed.\u201d Erin O’Donovan, club secretary and LGFA Coach, said that they have people who\u2019d like to join that live outside the newer 2019 city boundary too, and that the rules should consider the unique purpose of clubs such as theirs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were told that everyone that joins the club needs to live in the city and that they\u2019ll be looking for proof.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re really a social club at the end of the day, and we give a chance to players who don\u2019t feel comfortable in a traditional GAA setting or who have stepped away and want to come back and be themselves.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cThe lads have got their league, but us women want to compete. I haven\u2019t played a competitive match in over ten years, but I joined the club in 2024 and it brought back my love for the GAA. It\u2019s a bit of a shame that all of us who have found it are now told we can\u2019t play.\u201d\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
Cork Labour Senator Laura Harmon, a member of the club, has written to Minister of State for Sport Charlie McConalogue on the issue, and said: \u201cGoing back to playing GAA in my late thirties wasn\u2019t something I saw possible until I found this club.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoundary issues should not be a barrier to access for sport and clubs of this kind. These limitations are not only unfair, but they go against broader national commitments to women\u2019s sport and inclusion in Irish sports.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Cork Social Democrat TD P\u00e1draig Rice TD has also submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister for Sport and asked him to engage with the LGFA to find a resolution.<\/p>\n
An LGFA spokesperson told The Echo that Na Laochra Aeracha\u2019s application is being considered \u201cin line with the LGFA\u2019s established rules and governance structures, which are applied consistently and equally to all clubs and players\u2026 in all counties,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n
They said that \u201csome discrepancies\u201d have been identified in documentation submitted by the club, particularly regarding residency within city boundaries, and that this has been communicated to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an organisation, we are committed to treating all clubs fairly and cannot make exceptions outside of the rules that govern our Association,\u201d they said, adding that the process is ongoing and they will continue to engage with the group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An LGBTQ+ inclusive Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) club has called for \u201coutdated\u201d regulations in the organisation to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442987,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-442986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}