John Mullane believes skort debacle highlights the difficulties ahead in integrating Camogie Association and GAA
Under the guidance of former Irish president Mary McAleese, the three sporting bodies are proposed to merge and work under the one umbrella from 2027 onwards, but Mullane has his doubts.
The five-time All-Star, who is coach with the successful De La Salle senior camogie side, insists that the players are 'not being listened to' when it comes to their desire to wear shorts over skorts – as highlighted by the protests of Dublin and Kilkenny last weekend.
That is just the tip of the iceberg in Mullane's reckoning.
'Best of luck to that,' Mullane remarked on the Indo GAA podcast when mentioning that integration between the three organisations is aimed at 2027.
'Some of the stuff I see happening within the ladies game, whether it's camogie or ladies football, I'm scratching my head saying, 'Oh my God, how are these girls ever going to get parity or how are they ever going to come under the one umbrella in a timeline of two years' time?
'How can they when the people above them, some of them are living in the stone ages.'
Citing the recent example of Waterford senior camogie player Annie Fitzgerald playing a Munster semi-final around the same time as her brother Patrick lined out in the Munster SHC for the Waterford hurlers – one in Tipperary, the other in Walsh Park – Mullane insists that scenario 'shouldn't be allowed to happen'.
'That goes back to the people at board level and at Munster Council level. Common sense has to prevail on some occasions and it's a crossroads now, and fair play to those girls. The players have to be listened to.'
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