11-05-2025
In camogie the war rages on between those fighting for the past and those fighting for the future
JUST AFTER FIVE o'clock on Friday evening, less than 20 hours from throw-in of the Munster camogie Final, Minister for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport Patrick O'Donovan took to the airwaves.
The writing was on the wall for the camogie players of Cork and Waterford when the Minister stated that the 'Camogie Association are constituted properly. They haven't done anything wrong with regard to their rules and they have set a process in place in terms of changing them.'
After six extraordinary days, countless headlines, and two pivots the Camogie Association were thrown a life buoy by the Minister. The Minister would not be interfering in the rules of the Camogie Association and the Minister would not force the Munster Council to play the Munster Final.
The green light had been given to the Munster Council to postpone the game and ensure that there would be no camogie players winning Munster Championships in shorts. Everyone knows that if you need to put out bad news, you should put it out on a Friday night at ten past eight.
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The Munster Council, no doubt boosted by this significant show of support from the Minister, penned a hasty statement 'in the best interests of all players and officials involved' and duly postponed the game.
Those versed in camogie politics had been fearful of this outcome from Wednesday. Cork and Waterford had announced that they would follow their Leinster counterparts in wearing shorts for this game. A defiant Ashling Thompson had stated 'What we're going to do is wear shorts and if we're asked to return to the dressing room we won't. If that means abandoning the game and handing over the Munster title to Waterford, that's what we'll do.'
Waterford were not found wanting and Niamh Rockett had responded immediately; 'We will be standing with Cork. We're willing to give up the chance of silverware.'
Spooked by this united front, the Camogie Association attempted a throw of the dice to discourage the players from following through on their threat of wearing shorts in their Munster Final. On Thursday morning a Special Congress was announced for 22 May where a vote would be held on the introduction of a rule to allow players the option to wear skorts or shorts.
Two hours later Irish Independent journalist Martin Breheny stated 'the war is over, it's how you settle the aftermath is the only matter left.'
Those less versed in camogie politics understood this hurried Special Congress to be a formality. They assumed choice would now be the order of the day.
Sitting here now, sifting through the joint statement of the Waterford and Cork Senior Camogie Panels issued yesterday, I wish the war was over. The decision by the Munster
Council to postpone this game has impacted this group of players both physically and mentally. Those in the background will feel equally aggrieved. Meticulous planning by those personnel to ensure these players were at their peak for this game has resulted in sacrifices elsewhere.
Next year the willingness to make these sacrifices will likely be impacted by this farcical decision and players will lose out again. Those personnel with the credentials to
improve athletic performance, to improve the game of camogie as a spectacle, will likely retreat from an organisation hell bent on retaining power at all costs.
It can only be assumed that the decision to postpone the game was an effort to retain power at all costs. Since news broke last Saturday that Dublin and Kilkenny had been forced to change out of their shorts for their Leinster semi-final there has been a chasm a mile long, which the Camogie Association has refused to step into.
Over and over the Camogie Association has been unavailable for comment. Despite two pivots, the first offering discussion in 2026, the second confirming a Special Congress in two weeks, Camogie President Brian Molloy has not spoken in public about the issue, preferring instead the written word. Ard Stiúrthóir Sinead McNulty has also avoided the spotlight.
It has been left to volunteers in the organisation, notably Chairperson of the Dublin Camogie Board Karl O'Brien to lead the way and O'Brien's leadership on this issue has been exemplary. The Dublin Camogie Board, recognising that the pitch is not the appropriate place to enforce this rule in the current circumstances, has simply told referees to allow games to proceed.
When the dust settles in Dublin the respect shown to both the referees and players in the course of this debacle will ensure a prompt return to the business at hand.
Related Reads
Waterford and Cork camogie players label decision to cancel Munster final 'massive step backwards'
Wexford camogie team still planning to wear shorts for Leinster final
Camogie Association calls Special Congress to vote on motion over skorts controversy
An old clipping from the Southern Star is circulating on social media today. Penned in September 1935 it was simply titled 'Girls In Shorts.' A West Cork priest was so vexed by young girls wearing shorts cycling through the town of Dunmanway that he took to the pulpit to denounce them as a 'disgrace to their sex.' He surmised that 'if they appeared again in such disgraceful attire, they deserved to be kicked off the streets.'
It is surreal today to know that a pitch in Tipperary was silent for the exact same reason.
The war rages on between those fighting for the past and those fighting for the future of 'one of the most ancient games in the world.'
