Camogie president confident upcoming vote will allow players option to wear shorts

Irish Independent

12-05-2025

It comes after the Munster senior camogie final between Cork and Waterford that was due to be played on Saturday was postponed after both panels said that they would wear shorts instead of the mandatory skorts, which are mandatory under Camogie ­Association rules.
In a bid to end the crisis, Camogie Association president Brian Molloy had issued a special congress note, sent to all clubs and secretaries, ahead of a ­crucial vote on the issue on May 22, confirming that he supports the proposal to add the option of shorts for players.
Speaking to This Week on RTÉ ­Radio 1 yesterday, Mr Molloy said he has had a lot of contact this week over girls who 'want to keep wearing the skort'.
Mr Molloy said he '100pc supported' the decision of the Munster Council to postpone the regional camogie final.
He stressed that the association got a unanimous agreement to go to a special congress to resolve the issue, which he 'hoped would be sufficient'.
On why the match was postponed, Mr Molloy said as president he doesn't have the authority to tell a referee to put the rule (of mandatory skort-wearing) to one side.
Mr Molloy said he empathises with the Cork and Waterford players, who learnt of the postponement less than 24 hours before the game.
'There is a process they [Munster Council] had to go through. They made it as quickly as they possibly could and then communicated it out to the county boards,' he said.
'Could it have been done faster? Possibly. But you have to remember, this landed on my desk less than two weeks ago
.'
On why the association took eight days to answer questions, Mr Molloy said it was working behind the scenes with the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) to find solutions.
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'We have issued statements to say we were working on it. But I have responsibilities to my members.
'I wrote out to all the county chairs and secretaries to let them know unequivocally that the position of Ard Chomhairle [governing body between congresses] and of me is that we support the right to protest.
'We support the introduction of choice and that they are to engage with their players and make sure their players' voices are heard on this.'
Mr Molloy said they are putting forward a choice, where a player can decide if she wants to wear shorts or the skort.
'I am confident that the change will happen. I have spoken to a lot of delegates and the consistent feedback is that they are 100pc behind keeping the skort but giving the option for the short,' Mr Molloy added.
On a loss of confidence in the association and Mr Molloy's leadership on handling the issue, he said it was the first time the issue was raised in the last 12 months.
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