Group led by Mary McAleese told that 'finances shouldn't be the focus'
The Steering Group on Integration (SGI) has been accused of 'missing a trick' by not engaging with the GPA.
The SGI, which is headed up by former President of Ireland Mary McAleese, is charged with bringing the GAA, LGFA and CA under one umbrella and has set a target of 2027 for the merger to be completed.
The GPA says efforts to engage in the process have effectively been rebuffed, with chief executive Tom Parsons saying they were 'at a bit of a wit's end' after a letter to the SGI requesting a meeting was apparently met with a response that 'it's not an appropriate time'.
Former Tyrone footballer Gemma Begley, the GPA's equality, diversity and inclusion manager, pointed to how the players' body went through its own merger with its female wing in 2020.
She said: 'We went through a really positive integration process. Our finances didn't double overnight. We went from 2,200 members to 4,000 members and we realigned things internally.
'We completely streamlined, leaned things out and now we look after all our members equally and made it work.'
She added: 'Finances shouldn't be the focus. If there's a will there's a way and it's the right thing to do and let's all get on the pitch together and make it happen and make it a massive success. That's our approach to it but we're just not being afforded the opportunity.'
Parsons said that the SGI sidelining the GPA is 'not a tenable position'.
'If the integration committee does all this work over three years and we get to 2027 and players then see that, well, it's the same old governance structures that doesn't carry the player's voice through, then that's just not going to serve Gaelic games well,' said the former Mayo footballer.
'So they're missing a trick with not engaging with a big stakeholder, which is a collective voice of players who are also a collective voice of club players.'
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