Sport Minister Catherine Martin disappointed All-Ireland ladies semi-final was 'overshadowed'

SPORT Minister Catherine Martin has expressed her disappointment that the All-Ireland senior ladies football semi-final between Cork and Galway was unable to be televised live after a late venue change.

The match was originally fixed for the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick, but was moved to the Parnell Park due to a Limerick hurling training session scheduled that would clash with the semi-final.

However, Parnell Park was deemed unplayable because of a frozen pitch on Sunday, so the game was then moved at short notice to Croke Park, where the men's semi-final between Mayo and Tipperary was taking place in the afternoon.

TG4, which was scheduled to screen the game, was unable to televise the Cork vs Galway game at the new venue.

Cork won the match 2-17 to 0-13

Galway manager Tim Rabbitt today criticised what he claimed was the "disgraceful" treatment of the players.

This evening Ms Martin said: "The semi-final should have been a day celebrating excellence in women’s sport but instead was overshadowed and hindered by a number of factors including Covid-19 restrictions and the logistical planning of the match itself.

“I am disappointed that these challenges unfortunately led to a number of venue changes and the match not being televised live which resulted in justifiable upset among the team and their supporters yesterday."

She added: “As Minister for Sport, I have a strong interest in progressing women’s sports and look forward to further engagement with all parties involved to discuss these issues and the future of women’s Gaelic games in Ireland.”

Online Editors