GAA get on board with equality as female referee to take charge for first time

About time

If you don't notice a referee then it usually means they they have had a good game. But regardless of what the officiating is like on Sunday in the Ulster minor football clash in Fermanagh, the referee is going to be the center of a lot of attention. That's because for the first time ever in a men's game, the person with the whistle will be a woman. Maggie Farrelly made history last season by being the first ever woman to run the line in a senior men's game, when she was appointed the linesperson for the Allianz League clash between Kerry and Dublin. The Cavan native is one of the most respected female officials in Ireland, and has been a long time official in ladies football but this is the first time in GAA history that woman will take charge of a men's inter-county game. The game will be the Ulster minor clash of  Fermanagh and Antrim and hopefully we will see Maggie and her counterparts become more of a recognisable part of the GAA landscape in the future.

Referees Fermanagh v Antrim on Sunday May 31st - Maggie Farrelly Cavan, Minor game. Maurice Deegan Laois, Senior game pic.twitter.com/CLbuT5cGpj

— Fermanagh GAA (@FermanaghGAA) May 19, 2015

Congrats Maggie Farrelly: making history nxt Sunday - 1st woman to ref Ulster boys' MFC game @WomenSportTrust @WomensGPA #womeninsport #GAA — cliona foley (@ponyyelof) May 27, 2015

Delighted to hear reports that Maggie Farrelly will ref Ulster MFC this weekend #GAA

— Tracey Kennedy (@Tracey_Cork) May 27, 2015