Former Kildare captain wants 'progress' after Kildare LGFA and GAA deny county final issues

Kildare LGFA and Kildare GAA have today both issued responses to claims that the Cedral St. Conleth's Park's pitch lights were turned off before the presentations of both the Ladies Senior Camogie Final and Senior Ladies Final trophies.

The two organisations were aligned in their assessment of the respective nights and denied any premature turning off of lights or lack of access to facilities, but former Kildare captain Grace Clifford, who lined out for Eadestown in the Ladies SFC Final, has now taken to X (formerly Twitter) to add a player's perspective on the issues and to call for unity moving forward. 

Clifford said: "As we can all agree, the situation that occurred was unacceptable. The photos clearly show that the lights were off, and many players myself included experienced cold showers after the game. Rather than pointing fingers, let's simply acknowledge what happened, accept that it wasn't good enough, and focus on moving forward.

"The bigger picture here is about improvement. We want to ensure these situations don't happen again. It was an incredible experience to play our county final in the county grounds, a place we've watched so many men's games, which are rightly held there. No one is questioning that, it's a Kildare GAA facility, and those games belong there. All we're asking is that going forward, more ladies' games can also be played in our county grounds. This isn't about division or blame, it's about progress, fairness, and working together for the good of Kildare football."

The Eadestown legend was clear in noting that there were issues for players on the night beyond what was acknowledged by the two Kildare footballing organisations, but was chiefly focused on issues beyond the two county final nights in question, which was the discussion regarding the use of the county grounds that were highlighted in the original online posts.

Kildare photographer Aisling Hyland noted that there was only one game from each of the ladies football and camogie championships played in Cedral St Conleth's Park this season, with the Kildare LGFA Finals from Intermediate level down taking place in Kilcock GAA this year.

The Kildare LGFA's statement in response to this issue said: “Kildare LGFA are currently planning for our 2025 County Convention, which will be held on November 16, 2025 in Cedral St. Conleth's Park. Following the Convention, the incoming Kildare LGFA Executive will continue the positive working relationship both Executive committees have enjoyed. Kildare LGFA will work constructively with Kildare GAA to agree the use of facilities for the 2026 Inter-County and Club season."

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