A restructuring of coiste bainistí, the GAA's management committee, could be signalled at Special Congress this weekend to fulfil gender representation criteria and safeguard statutory funding.
At the start of the year national sports governing bodies were informed by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media that at least 40% of their management level boards must be female by the end of 2023.
Otherwise, the associations would put their government funding in jeopardy.
GAA director general Tom Ryan says that "it is fitting and appropriate" that the motion is coming up and feels it will "prompt fresh thinking and bring new voices" to that level.
At the Special Congress this weekend, motion nine seeks to achieve and maintain a gender balance in the membership of its Management Committee with a minimum of 40% female or male representation.
Currently, three of the management committee’s 19 board members are female which equates to 16%.
Saturday’s motion proposes a three-stage process towards gender balance by initially increasing the size of Coiste Bainistí to 21 members in 2024 of which nine would be female.
It is proposed that from 2027 onwards, a 16-person Coiste Bainistí would include a minimum of seven females.
As a minimum, three of the four provincial representatives, one of the two independent appointees, one of the two representatives of Congress, as well as the LGFA and Camogie representatives must all be women from Congress 2027 onwards.
The proposal is informed by the Voluntary Sporting Governance Code and by Government ambitions for board diversity for sporting national governing bodies.
"This is a novel motion, a new step," Tom Ryan told GAA.ie.
"It will make sure that the membership of our national management committee will be 40% female, at least.
"Oddly enough, at grassroots level we are leading the way and are currently in excess of 30 percent female club officers.
"For some reason that voice has not emerged yet at national level and this weekend we will look to put in place a process for that and for further changes to be made in the next three years.
"This is only really centred on one committee, management level, and doesn’t have a bearing on other committees.
"But people will be aware that there is a statutory angle to this with the Department of Sport setting the 40% diversity target.
"We have a role to play in that and to safeguard our funding also."
The vote and process is completely separate to the ongoing integration framework that is currently being explored by the GAA, Camogie and LGFA.
Meanwhile, the Camogie Association has announced a substantial investment of €250,000 to support grassroots camogie clubs in Ireland.
This investment will benefit over 600 clubs by providing games equipment packs. The funding has been made possible through a ‘Return to Sport’ grant from Sport Ireland, which the Camogie Association's Ard Chomhairle has committed to match and further invest in clubs, with the aim is to increase player numbers and retain existing players in the sport.
In March, the Camogie Association reached out to all clubs to gather their feedback on the type of assistance they would prefer. With 69% of those surveyed felt the investment would benefit them best by supplying games equipment.
Camogie Association president, Hilda Breslin, expressed her delight in announcing this significant investment.
"Grassroots camogie is the foundation of our sport, where players begin their journey and develop their skills. Camogie clubs play a crucial role in growing and strengthening the sport at a local level, which in turn helps to build a strong and sustainable future for the sport as a whole.
Camogie clubs are the lifeblood of our association and essential for the growth and success of our sport."
