GAA, FAI and IRFU told to improve gender balance on their boards, or face 50pc funding cut

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe on her way to scoring Ireland's first try during the Women's Six Nations match against Wales this year. Picture by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.

Hugh O'Connell

May 29 2022 09:12 AM

The GAA, IRFU, FAI and other sporting bodies will face having their government funding cut by as much as 50pc within the next two years, unless they increase the number of women on their boards.

Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers has revealed that national governing bodies in receipt of taxpayer funding will have to ensure at least 40pc of board members are female by the end of next year.

Failure to do so will see their government funding slashed, with the minister specifically identifying three of the biggest national governing bodies in the State — the GAA, IRFU and FAI — as not having made enough progress.

“It could be up to 50pc for organisations that don't meet it, and I think a range within that,” Mr Chambers told the Sunday Independent this weekend. “So, for example, if there are organisations that are very close, it could be closer to 10pc.

"If organisations don’t meet it, I think it should be a lot higher — and that’s the kind of framework and matrix we're trying to work through.”

The IRFU has just 12pc female representation on its board, the FAI has 17pc, and the GAA has 20pc, according to the most recently published data.

All three organisations have received tens of millions of euro in Government support over the last two years due to the Covid crisis — but outside of the pandemic they traditionally receive millions of euro in taxpayers’ money every year.

The FAI is currently in receipt of a Government-backed financial rescue package of over €30m that was agreed in early 2020 in the aftermath of the John Delaney debacle.

Outside of the Covid support schemes, the GAA received €2.4m in 2020 and 2021, while the IRFU received just over €2.25m in the same years.

“The big three — the GAA, FAI, IRFU — all haven’t made enough progress and really they have to reform their structures to reflect that,” Mr Chambers said, of their female representation at board level.

“If you go down to a local nursery now in any GAA club, any football club and even in rugby clubs, you’ll see there is nearly 50-50 participation. Reflecting that at leadership level will lead to better decisions within sport, and that pipeline of young people coming through.”

Mr Chambers said he will publish details of the possible funding cuts by the end of this year, in advance of the end of 2023 deadline for governing bodies to hit the 40pc target, but he added that the sanctions he would be proposing would have a “substantive impact” on core funding.

“This isn’t going to be a tokenistic cut. I think a tokenistic cut means we will have tokenistic responses,” he said.

An audit of female participation on national governing bodies and local sports partnerships carried out last year found that while the overall female representation stands at 32pc, some organisations are performing worse than others.

The Irish Boxing Association of Ireland (IABA) has no women on its board. By contrast, 75pc of the board of the Baton Twirling Sport Association of Ireland are women.

This weekend Mr Chambers is also announcing a new €2m Sport for All fund that will aim to encourage more sports clubs to be inclusive of persons with disabilities. The Fianna Fáil TD said the new fund is “a bit like the start of sports capital for inclusion”.