PRESSURE is intensifying on the IRFU over the contents of a letter sent to the Irish Government by a group of high-profile past and present women rugby players demanding change at the top of the organisation.
The SDLP’s spokesperson for sport Justin McNulty said the rugby authorities “must be challenged to provide the relevant supports and funding to implement high ambition strategic plans” and called on Stormont’s Minster for Communities Deirdre Hargey to meet with the IRFU “without delay” to address the concerns raised by the signatories of the letter.
Top players Ciara Griffin, Claire Molloy, Lynne Cantwell, Grace Davitt and Jenny Murphy are among those who signed the letter which said the group had lost “all trust and confidence in the IRFU” over the perceived lack of support for the women’s game.
On Monday, the IRFU criticised the "overall tenor" of the letter and expressed its disappointment at its timing when "two well resourced, independent reviews are in train and it is from these reviews that lessons, based on fact, can be learned and the foundations built which will serve the women’s game well for future generations."
Ex-Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan believed tensions between many elite female rugby players was now at “breaking point who feel the game is not being managed properly”.
McNulty, a 2002 All-Ireland winner with Armagh, said: “It is inconceivable that in the year 2021 such an esteemed group of players who have sacrificed so much for the green jersey over so many years are in a place where they feel deeply discouraged and like second class citizens in the sport they love.
“I know the players will not have taken the decision to go public with their dissatisfaction lightly. This bold initiative by so many key names in the sport may be a necessary catalyst for positive change.”
The Newry and Armagh MLA added: “The fact that so many stalwarts of the sport have publicly added their names to a letter conveying a loss of trust and confidence in their union to the Minister is cause for concern.
“I am calling on the Minister for Communities to meet with the IRFU without delay in an effort to have the issues the players’ raised addressed promptly.”
The Minister for Communities was contacted for comment.
