The Dublin team before the start of this year’s All-Ireland Senior Football Final in Croke Park in August
Council have no place telling LGFA ‘what they should do’
Local councils have no place telling the LGFA “what they should do” regarding their policy on transgender athletes playing the sport.
That was one of the arguments raised against a motion calling on the Ladies Gaelic Football Association to “review its policy on transgender participation, to ensure fairness and safety for all its players”.
The motion, brought by Cllr Ronan McMahon (Ind) at the full council meeting on September 8, asked the council to request a review on the policy, which the councillor said he found “startling”.
Speaking via webcam to the council chamber, Cllr McMahon queried whether parents of players would be informed if a “male born player” were to join or play against their child’s team and said that the policy could lead to greater numbers of girls leaving the sport and taking up rugby instead.
“I’ve yet to speak to any person who is in favour of this policy,” he said, adding that the review was needed to protect women and girls.
Speaking on his motion, Cllr McMahon referred to “transgender males” joining the LFGA, an incorrect use of the term as “transgender male” as this refers to a person that has transitioned from female to male and would therefore be ineligible to play in women’s sport.
The policy in question was put in place by the LGFA in February 2023, almost two and a half years ago.
Transgender players aged between 12 and 15 must be approved by a Transgender Application Committee, with confirmation from a medical practitioner that they are transitioning male-to-female.
Players aged 16 and over must also submit confirmation or a Gender Recognition Certificate, as well as medical records proving their testosterone levels in the previous 12 months were less or equal to 10 nanomoles per litre (nmlol/L).
Cllr McMahon’s motion received very limited support in the chamber, with many councillors decrying it as an unfair attack on transgender people.
Cllr Louise Dunne (SF) furiously noted that many of the motions he had brought during her time on South Dublin County Council were “in relation to targeting women and the LGBTQ community”.
“As a woman who is a survivor, and I won’t get into that in this chamber, I never had to fear a trans woman,” she said, adding that she was “extremely, extremely angry” over the motion.
“So the far-right outrage machine cranks up, who is it this week – is it foreigners endangering our children, no sure we did them last month; is it library books endangering our children, no sure we did that a couple of months ago – it must be trans people’s turn again to be picked on and used as a political weapon,” Cllr Alan Edge (Ind) stated.
Cllrs Alan Hayes (Ind) and Emma Murphy, who are both members of the LGFA as coaches and (in Cllr Murphy’s case) player, were among the many other councillors who condemned the motion.
“Who on earth are we to try and tell community organisations how to do their work?” Cllr Murphy asked, adding that she is a “very proud member of the LGFA because it’s a progressive organisation” and that if Cllr McMahon was looking for members of the LGFA who supported the policy, she was one of them.
The motion was defeated in a roll call vote with 27 against, three in favour and three abstentions.
Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
