The Steering Group on Integration (SGI) are to consider a recommendation by Government officials to add extra independent voices to the committee in addition to appointing a new chairperson.

And in correspondence late last week to the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association, Government ministers requested the organisations produce a roadmap towards integration that would include key milestones along the way.

The fallout from Mary McAleese’s tumultuous resignation as chair of the SGI continues to dominate discourse at Croke Park, with the process now operating beneath a more intense glare.

All three organisations had meetings last Wednesday with Minister for Sport, Patrick O’Donovan, and Minister of State for Sport, Charlie McConalogue. McAleese also met the ministers that same afternoon.

In the immediate aftermath of those meetings, the three associations expressed their commitment to achieving integration and ministers said the meetings had been “constructive”.

But the three associations have since received follow-up correspondence from the Department of Sport seeking more transparency, recommending a new set of timelines be produced and suggesting independent members be added to the integration committee.

The SGI, currently without a chair, comprises the three current association presidents (Jarlath Burns, GAA; Trina Murray, LGFA; Brian Molloy, Camogie Association) and the three director generals/CEOs (Tom Ryan, GAA; Lyn Savage, LGFA; Karen Dessain-Gelinet, Camogie Association).

Mark Dorman and Aoibhe Dunne have been involved in overseeing the project from an administrative perspective but are not viewed as fully fledged members.

McAleese was essentially the independent chairperson of a committee that wasn’t entirely independent.

The former president of Ireland was appointed chair in September 2022. In February 2024, a timeline for full integration in 2027 was announced.

That deadline will not be met and the slow pace of progress led to McAleese stepping down last week – accusing the GAA’s management committee of being “less than impressive” and “lacking in vision”.

The SGI’s next meeting is scheduled for October 5th, by which stage a new chairperson is expected to be in place.

However, in correspondence with all three associations, the Government have recommended the SGI now bring in several more outside voices to the committee, suggesting: “It might be worth reflecting on whether additional external independent input to that work could be beneficial.”

Aside from a reshuffle of the personnel involved at the decision-making table, the Government are also pushing the SGI to be more open about their work.

One criticism directed at the group was a lack of communication to the public on the progress, or lack of, over recent years.

The Government have asked for regular updates – suggesting a briefing every quarter – and have also indicated the SGI should strive to produce a roadmap towards integration.

“The Gaelic games integration will be the biggest ever in Irish sport, perhaps internationally, as three of the five biggest sports NGBs come together,” wrote the ministers.

“This is time-consuming, careful work but a public statement of likely key timelines would be helpful to buttress wider confidence in the project.”

The letter added that ministers were “heartened” that the associations had acknowledged the greater need for “transparency and clear communications on how the integration process is happening”.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio 1 last week, Burns veered on the side of caution when asked about setting a new time frame for integration.

“I think the timelines actually held us back more than anything else,” said the GAA president. “Because we seem to be racing towards timelines. We just want to make sure that we can get this right.

“There’s a very important point to be made here on this as well, and it’s to do with the journey towards integration. This isn’t like a merger and acquisition of a corporate organisation. We are three highly functioning democratic organisations that have to go back to our members to gain consensus for every little bit that we do.”

Director general of the GAA, Tom Ryan, echoed that viewpoint last week when he also pushed back on setting any firm targets. He argued that integration would not be “a single big bang” moment, but rather, it would occur on a more incremental basis.

“I have to be honest, I can’t offer a precise timetable and I’ll have to take my directions GAA-wise from our own membership,” said Ryan. “A key element will be phased implementation, I think, not a single big bang.”

However, if the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association are to keep the Government onside, it would seem they will now need to draw up new timelines.