It is International Women’s Day today and a natural chance to celebrate women and call for gender equality, which in turn needs to be pursued everyday. In sport, this means ensuring everyone has the same resources, coaching, information, supports, and access to facilities. To achieve this, some barriers must be overcome, including the current separate organisational structure of the GAA, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA), and the Camogie Association.

When they do get onto the field of play there is no glass ceiling for men and women who play Gaelic games. They each can represent their clubs and counties, the honour is the same, the sense of personal achievement and commitment comparable and their ambitions are equal. Off the field, there are also some joint initiatives with funding allocations that benefit boys and girls equally, including the Cúl Camps.

In many clubs across Ireland, boys and girls are registered to ‘One Club’, which is a proactive measure by all three organisations to overcome many of the barriers that cause inequity. Others, although registered to different organisations, are in essence of one club where gender doesn’t influence positioning in the club agenda.

It is likely that if the GAA was founded today, it would be stewards of the men and women’s games. This reflects the true ethos of the GAA, and the values of community, respect, and inclusiveness that surely lend themselves to a consistent tendency towards sharing of resources particularly at a club level. Goodwill should be and is relied upon while governance catches up.

At a county level, things are more complex, pitches are one of the biggest headaches for all female inter-county setups. The clubs with quality facilities are generally those that are busy with many teams to cater for, while other clubs are prone to ‘minding’ pitches. No problem here as long as the female teams in the club are being supported; clubs should rightly have an allegiance to their own teams.

So where does this leave the county game, which is the flagship, the front door to our sports? Just last week, the Westmeath LGFA manager rightly bemoaned a National League Division 1 game taking place in a grounds with no dugout and no stand; we must celebrate the positive developments for women in sport but it is equally important to remain grounded and appreciate there are basic needs that need to be addressed once and for all.

There are solutions. All counties have county grounds, some even have secondary county grounds, while GAA clubs are among the most well developed across all sports. In addition, centres of excellence have been developed, which offer reliable and robust facilities but for women’s teams, access is sometimes restricted or conditional. Many of these facilities are funded partially by the Government with principles of equality and inclusion attached but not always enforced. The gates should always be open but this is not always the case. In reality, the principles of inclusion and community, which are a little more natural at club level, become less likely at county level.

Integrating the game at the top level may be one of the biggest fear factors for decision makers. The game is amateur but some administrators, officials and players receive financial compensation. Integration will mean that any such model needs to be fair, but still one that facilitates the distribution of the vast income across Gaelic games back to clubs and communities. In any case, volunteers who serve Gaelic games governing bodies at the highest level are compensated for their time, as are playing officials and some county board officers.

In addition, some players who reach a high performance level receive financial support. Male players, through an expenses model, are looked after quite well, the context for females is not so consistent, if even existent in most counties. Expenses are typically local level arrangements and dependent on the financial health or general wherewithal of the county in question. The notion of a central level arrangement like in the men’s game is not currently feasible but any impending integration between the GAA, LGFA, and camogie could present an opportunity or dilemma, whichever side you are on. The costs associated with running men’s county teams are, on occasion, bonkers. Introducing female costs into the budget will doubtless cause some unrest but there is money in the game; it is how it is distributed that is causing a problem. Maybe integration will be a blessing in disguise.

At a player’s level, it is likely incidental for Sinead Aherne and Declan Hannon that their county jersey is going over a man or a woman’s head. Each have worked extremely hard to make it to the top, albeit in different environments, but likely have the same level of self-fulfillment.

They and their respective organisations realise how important it is to generate the best game possible around them and to position them as role models, and have them acknowledged and supported equally.

However, we remain far from a time when a young girl in Galway who likes sport knows Tracey Leonard to the same extent that she recognises Shane Walsh. And we are far from a norm where young boys in Cork are aware that Aoife Murray captained Cork to All-Ireland camogie success. In this ideal world, these young girls and boys would grow into young men and women who just see ‘sport’ and choose to support the sport they love to watch and play. It is important that women inspire and empower other women but it is equally, if not more important, that we focus on targeting and enticing the men and women who like sport to support all sport. Greater integration in Gaelic games can help to do this.

If, and hopefully when, the GAA moves towards being stewards of the women’s game, all GAA people may soon exist within the largest sporting organisation for men and women in the land, and one that by default should be a beacon for equality in sport. That journey towards integration has started; agreements between the LGFA and GAA and GAA and Camogie Association are in place providing an overview of common activities. A related action was to grant a seat to camogie and the LGFA on the management committee of the GAA, which was recently approved. Neither, however, have voting rights, and for now, some functions will remain separate including membership.

In the movie Battle of the Sexes, Emma Stone who plays Billie Jean King has a great line when challenging men’s tennis: “It’s when we want a little bit of what you got, that’s what you can’t stand.”

I believe in the GAA. I think they will be okay with the women’s game wanting a little of what they have, and equally willing to learn from and support the many valuable activities and important autonomies of camogie and ladies football.

Hopefully we will soon see more examples of how integration will happen and what it will look like. It could be that all clubs will move into a One Club model like they are moving into a Healthy Club Model; it needs the same resources in terms of people and investment but it can happen. There will be Andy Murrays of the GAA; some of the top male players will use their voice, consistently and accurately. Double-headers will become the norm rather than being celebrated as breakthroughs.

A One County Model will be developed; it will be piloted with adequate resourcing and support before a wider roll out. The Government will apply gender budgeting to all capital projects and investment in Gaelic games. Joint sponsorships of men and women’s team will become a condition for investors; it makes business sense and reflects the dignity and respect requirements inherent in workplaces and that should be expected in sport. The Gaelic Voices for Change sleepout will be an exemplar of future efforts where GAA people will come together as one unit to help the organisation to be the powerful societal influencer that it can be.

There are three organisations involved in this journey and everybody will have to give a little, and be open to change but by moving with this process, we will begin to remove barriers to equality. There may be some who think ‘what if we fall?’ but equally, as the poet Erin Hanson asks ‘what if we fly’?

Aoife Lane is the former chairperson of the WGPA