Last Sunday evening around teatime, a shrill blast of a whistle blew around a small patch of Dublin’s northside. In the seconds that followed, a horde of maroon-clad athletes let the realisation hit them that they had just won a second All-Ireland camogie title for Galway in the space of three years. It might have been a third but for the onset of the pandemic, but there is time ahead for that one.
The manner in which they won was textbook. They had spoken in the buildup about their ability to react — a skill in life as much on the hurling field — to events that threaten to derail you. In a game in which they had never fallen behind, they suffered a sucker blow eleven minutes from time when Cork struck for a goal to go ahead. But the lessons of how to react had been drilled into Galway by each other and the superb team that manages and prepares them.
They coolly set about reducing the deficit and when Siobhan McGrath’s goal bobbled over the line at the Canal End, the title was coming west again. This is a team of superb elite athletes, who are role models for the tens of thousands of young girls who follow their every move. They reacted like an elite team because they are treated like an elite team. Their captain told us afterwards that the manner in which the management of Cathal Murray et al treats them, makes them better athletes and a superb team. They want for little, but they have had to fight for their rights.
Contrast that to the fortunes of the Connacht women’s rugby team, also playing in Dublin last weekend. When they played away in Donnybook against their Leinster counterparts, they were asked to change under some sort of discarded gazebo beside overflowing bins and the company of rats. It was despicable, insulting and disrespectful. The hashtag for women’s rugby is ironically #nothinglikeit. That was true, the players had seen ‘nothing like it’ and facilities should never again be anything like this.
There is a series of reviews and investigations into what went wrong. A statement said that the tent should have been set up in a more appropriate area. But surely, even considering for a moment that it was appropriate shows the lengths we have to go to ensure equality of treatment.
Last year, the Galway senior ladies team were denied any time to warm up in their All-Ireland football semifinal at Croke Park. It was as if “arragh, shure it’ll do”ism was taken to the limits.
While Sunday’s triumph has shown what being treated in an elite manner can bring, it is not just those who are elite who should be treated so. Elite respect is needed at all levels. If we are to promote a healthy lifestyle and the continuation of sporting participation throughout life, there cannot be one rule for the the men and another for the women, at all levels.
It is time to shout stop to the blatant disregard for the dignity of players based on their gender and to ensure that something like this does not happen again. And to inspire young people with the confidence that fairness exists.
