By John Considine
Last week I looked at the number of women referees who took charge of the elite level of women's Gaelic games. Specifically, I used the senior inter-county championships as listed on the websites of the relevant organisations. Women are underrepresented by almost any criteria. All the players are female. Half the population of Ireland is female. I guess that the majority of the members of the sporting organisations are female. Yet, as the pie charts below show, women are a small share of the referees for these elite games.
It may not be easy to increase the representation. Maybe the two football referees and the one camogie referee in the above numbers could be given more games. Or maybe more female referees could be used.
A bigger problem is getting referees of any classification. Like many others, I'm well able to question a referee's decisions but I admire anyone who does the job. Yet, I would be slow to encourage family or friends to undertake the task. Only last weekend, another physical confrontation with a referee in Gaelic games made the headlines (here).
Maybe we should treat referees like the other service providers in Gaelic game, e.g. pay them the same rates as the service providers such as Strength & Conditioning coaches. Lip service about respect only goes so far. Even as an economist I realise that there are limits to what money can buy. The philosopher Michael Sandel, in his book What Money Can't Buy and associated YouTube clips, has some nice examples where payment can show a lack of respect. Imagine a friend invites you to their parents' house for dinner at Christmas. Then, after a wonderful time, you pull out your wallet and ask "how much do I owe you?" I don't think any referee would be offended by getting the same amount of money as the service providers to the competing teams.
A bigger problem is getting referees of any classification. Like many others, I'm well able to question a referee's decisions but I admire anyone who does the job. Yet, I would be slow to encourage family or friends to undertake the task. Only last weekend, another physical confrontation with a referee in Gaelic games made the headlines (here).
Maybe we should treat referees like the other service providers in Gaelic game, e.g. pay them the same rates as the service providers such as Strength & Conditioning coaches. Lip service about respect only goes so far. Even as an economist I realise that there are limits to what money can buy. The philosopher Michael Sandel, in his book What Money Can't Buy and associated YouTube clips, has some nice examples where payment can show a lack of respect. Imagine a friend invites you to their parents' house for dinner at Christmas. Then, after a wonderful time, you pull out your wallet and ask "how much do I owe you?" I don't think any referee would be offended by getting the same amount of money as the service providers to the competing teams.
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