The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and the Women's Gaelic Players Association (WGPA) are to merge.
Female and male inter-county players will be represented by the same union from next year after a vote held at their respective EGMs on Monday night.
Players of both unions voted overwhelmingly in favour of the two bodies merging.
Talk of a united front in men's and women's gaelic games has been heightened in recent weeks following the shambolic staging of the Ladies Football semi-final clash of Galway and Cork.
While it still seems a long way from Ladies Gaelic and the Camogie Association formally coming under the GAA banner, their players will be represented by the same union as their male counterparts.
A new National Executive Committee (NEC) of the united union will be formed in the second quarter of 2021 which, they say, "will proportionally represent the association’s female and male members."
They've also stated their desire to have an even 50-50 gender split on the new union's board of directors.
GPA/WGPA statement:
This evening at Extraordinary General Meetings (EGMs) of both the Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and the Women’s Gaelic Players Association (WGPA), inter-county players voted overwhelmingly to combine the two associations into one 4,000-member players’ association.
The first meeting of the newly combined association was held post the respective EGMs. A Transitional National Executive Committee (TNEC) was established at this meeting.
The TNEC will have its first meeting in January where Executive Officers will be elected including co-chairs. The TNEC will oversee the direction and strategy until the first Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Q2 of 2021.
At the 2021 AGM a new NEC will be elected which will proportionally represent the association’s female and male members.
As a result of tonight’s decision, changes will also be made to the composition of the GPA DAC Board of Directors, with the desire to achieve a 50:50 gender balance. The current chair Professor Brían MacCraith will lead this process.
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