Fair play to them.
On Monday, Catherine McGourty and Patrick McKillion were crowned winners of the Ulster GAA Poc Fada competition, which took place on Hen Mountain in Down.
McGourty and McKillion completed the same course, but while McKillion was the recipient of a skiiing holiday for his efforts, McGourty only received a medal, a development which understandably prompted a raft of criticism afterwards.
Ulster Camogie subsequently explained that the men’s prize was organised by the GAA in conjunction with two sponsors and that the men’s and women’s competitions were considered separate.
In an interview with the Irish News, meanwhile, McGourty said: “It’s the principle of it, the Ulster GAA should not be doing this, we did the exact same route as the men so I’m disappointed in the way we have been treated.
“We aren’t trying to take away from the winner. He didn’t ask for the prize and I didn’t even know there was a skiing holiday to win beforehand, so that’s not why I entered.
“But it came as a shock that they can do this, it’s totally sexist.”
As it turns out, McGourty will get a holiday after all after Gaelic Life stepped in to provide a holiday, giving her a £500 voucher in conjuction with Travel Solutions Belfast that she can use as she pleases.
While it will be up to the relevant bodies to ensure that such an injustice doesn’t occur again in the future, the Gaelic Life gesture ensures that she earns some reward for her efforts and it will be a nice boost for Catherine ahead of the National Poc Fada in Louth on August 1.
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