John Horan, a former GAA president, has been named chairperson of the Steering Group on Integration. He takes over from Dr Mary McAleese, the former President of Ireland, who recently stepped down from the role.
Why she left was addressed last week at an Oireachtas committee meeting. GAA president Jarlath Burns told members he believes the deadline was the reason. “I think Mrs McAleese resigned because she was very adamant that we were going to reach every deadline that we had,” Burns said. Once she realised the first one would be missed, he added, she decided to walk away. “Which was very disappointing for us, and we regret that deeply.”
The deadline in question is April 2027, the date the steering group set. Most GAA officials had come to see in recent months, before McAleese resigned, that it was out of reach.
Burns said the association’s commitment has not changed. “It is up to us to make it happen,” he said, “but we will make it happen in a way that our members are comfortable with and we’re going for it.”
GAA Director General Tom Ryan, answering a committee member’s question, was blunter about the scale of the job. “This is a huge undertaking,” he said. “This is the biggest thing that our organization has done since its inception 140 years ago.” Next year’s Congress, Ryan said, will set out what has to happen and when. He expects the process to take a number of years.
