Public fallout after McAleese resignation should push associations towards integration, says Trevor Giles

Former Meath footballer Trevor Giles hopes the very public fallout from last week’s integration controversy will ultimately push the power brokers to achieve one unified Gaelic games organisation. Mary McAleese’s resignation as chair of the Steering Group on Integration has left the process rudderless, and the 2027 deadline by which integration was set to be achieved has already been deemed unattainable. However, Giles feels the topic’s prominence in the news and general discourse last week means the GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association have little option now other than to agree a roadmap to integration. “I suppose we were all a bit shocked that Mary McAleese, a brilliant woman, felt she had to resign,” says the two-time Footballer of the Year.READ MORE“It doesn’t reflect brilliantly on our organisation. I want to see integration happen. It has to happen, it needs to happen. “I think the events of last week have got a lot of debate going. Certainly, I just thought this was happening – it was whenever it was going to happen was the thing. “It’s complicated, it’s not straightforward. Yeah, it’s a challenge, but I think what happened last week will accelerate this.”Giles, an All-Ireland winner with Meath in 1996 and 1999, has seen the benefits of the one-club model with his home outfit, Skryne. But he thinks issues arise at county and national level.“Our senior ladies train on the main pitch whatever their two nights of the week are, and the men train on the main pitch their two nights, and it all works well. We have good people in the main roles, so that works well.“It probably doesn’t work so well at county board level. You could have a fixture where your men and senior ladies are playing on the same night in championship, and a daughter would be with the ladies and a son is playing with the men, so where do you go? “You make efforts to try and get a game changed or switched but there might not be much dialogue or co-operation between the two boards, so that needs to get better.”Cormac O'Sullivan, Trevor Giles (centre) with team-mates Cormac O'Sullivan and Cormac Murphy after Meath's Leinster final triumph over Dublin in 2001. Photograph: Patrick Bolger/Inpho Giles managed the Meath minors this year, having brought the group up through from under-14s. The young Royals progressed to the All-Ireland quarter-finals, where they lost to eventual champions Cork.But Giles has stepped away ahead of the 2027 season due to the strong possibility that his son, Oisín, will be part of next year’s Meath minor squad.“There is a rule in Meath that you cannot manage or coach your own kid. My youngest fella will possibly be on the Meath minor squad next year.“That rule is there, and it’s a good rule. I was aware of it, so I knew I’d only get to one year at minor level with Meath, and that’s fine.”Giles has high hopes for Meath’s senior footballers next season, but is also concerned at the prevalence of cruciate knee ligament injuries in the sport. From the Meath senior panel alone, there are currently four players recovering from ACL injuries – Ruairí Kinsella, Jack Kinlough, Conor Gray and Seán Coffey.Giles, who himself suffered a cruciate tear in 1998, feels that while it is impossible to completely safeguard against injury, there are some preventive measures players and coaches could take.He would particularly like to see more emphasis and awareness on the GAA 15 – a standardised warm-up programme aimed at reducing injuries.“The GAA Medical Committee, which would be doctors and chartered physiotherapists, came up with this. It’s a warm-up designed to prevent injuries, but with a particular emphasis on ACL injuries. “But I’d say there’s hardly any team in the country doing it. To be fair, it’s a little bit long, it’s certainly 20 minutes, and then you have to do your ball work warm-up on top of that.Trevor Giles has stepped away from the Meath minor set-up ahead of the 2027 season. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho “Players will probably lose motivation after a couple of weeks of doing it. It’s not the most exciting warm-up, but if it’s the difference between avoiding an ACL (injury), where you’re going to be out for a year, it’s probably worth thinking about. There’s stuff in there that would prevent injuries. “In the Premier League and places like that where you’re fully professional, you have time to do more of that stuff than in our world. But if you had time and really went after this, you would cut down on some of these injuries.”Another aspect Giles feels could be a contributing factor is boot choice, or more precisely, the process of how players purchase their footwear.“Everyone buys boots online nowadays,” adds Giles.“And they are very much influenced by maybe what boots a good county player wears. But everyone’s foot is different, some have narrow feet, some have wide feet, some have a low arch, some have a high arch.“For such an important thing, for me, in a perfect world you’d go into a sports shop, you’d try on a few pairs of boots, ‘What fits me, what gives me support?’ That should be the most important thing with boots. “But everyone just buys online. I see it with my own lads, after a few weeks they might kind of go, ‘I don’t really like this boot,’ or ‘it’s a bit heavy, it’s a bit light, it’s a bit tight.’ “It’s like the foundation of a house. If you’re building your house, you want to get your foundations right, and then the house should stand stable. So, your feet are the foundations of your body.”*Trevor Giles was speaking ahead of the deadline for the 2026 Beko Club Champion application on September 25th. The initiative looks to reward local Leinster GAA club heroes who go above and beyond to help their community and club. For more information visit the Leinster GAA website.