The decision by the Camogie Association to allow shorts to become part of the official kit is a victory for the sport, says Dublin captain Aisling Maher.
In April, Congress rejected a motion to change to shorts, but in recent weeks teams have made a collective stance in order to seek change.
Kilkenny and Dublin wore shorts ahead of their Leinster semi-final, before changing into skorts after being told the game would not be played, while the Munster final was deferred after both Cork and Waterford indicated they would wear shorts.
After a wave of publicity, both nationally and internationally, and a hastily arranged Special Congress, players will now have the option of wearing shorts or skorts, starting with this weekend's All-Ireland senior, premier junior and Under-23 championship matches.
Dublin captain Maher, who described it as "career low" when Dublin and Kilkenny players were told their Leinster semi-final would be abandoned if they didn’t change into skorts, said the player protests "escalated the speed of change".
"It’s a victory for players who are presently playing inter-county, it’s a victory for young players coming up who now have a choice about what they wear," she told RTÉ Radio 1’s Morning Ireland.
"I don’t think something was going to happen without some form of extreme action. Unfortunately, the protests were probably warranted this time."
"Had we not got to this point where the introduction of shorts prior to championship was achieved, I think a huge amount of damage would have been done.
Events off the pitch have dominated the headlines in recent weeks, but the St Vincent’s player is hopeful that with the issue put to bed, the focus can return to the playing side once again.
"I hope we can learn from this going forward and not put ourselves in similar positions again, I hope this is something we can recover from," she said.
"You have to see the positives in this. The beginning of the All-Ireland championship has never got as much attention or publicity.
"Hopefully some of that attention will stay with camogie in a more positive light."
Camogie Association president Brian Molloy has welcomed the vote allowing the wearing of shorts and challenged "all those people who put their support behind the players" to attend this year's All-Ireland final pic.twitter.com/3SyKipRIIB
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) May 23, 2025
Camogie Association president Brian Molloy told RTÉ that the vote marked an "important moment" for the sport.
"The association listens to its members, we are a representative democracy," he said.
"The delegates, at my instruction, went out and spoke to the members. They came back with a resounding vote in favour of choice, and I'm delighted with that."
The GPA also welcomed the development in a statement issued after the vote, praising players and delegates, without referencing the contribution of the association.
Molloy insists there is no tension between the players’ body and the association.
"There are 94,000 playing members all across the country," he said. "The GPA does a fantastic job for the inter-county players. My job as president is to look after and make sure I represent all the players."
Watch a hurling championship double-header, Dublin v Galway (2pm) and Cork v Waterford (4pm), on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Highlights on The Sunday Game from 9.30pm
