The GAA and the ladies associations are expected to combine

John Hughes says that now is the time to fully join the GAA and the ladies and camogie associations.

Recent proposals for state funding criteria suggest that organisations must have 30 percent female or male representations.

In his Gaelic Life column, Hughes said this is the perfect excuse to fast track the combining of the three associations.

“How we ever ended up with a situation where Gaelic Games are administered along gender lines is something of a curiosity of history. It is an arrangement which has now long since passed its sell by date.

“The fact that all Gaelic Games are not under one umbrella is a source of endless little annoyances and irritations. The massive cost of registering a ladies player with th LGFA versus the €2 charge pe player with the GAA is just one of a liltany of issues which runs the gamut right up to things like hawk eye not being present at the ladies All-Ireland final.”