Golf clubs facing legal crackdown on equality

A marked hardening of attitudes was evident yesterday when the Irish Ladies' Golf Union (ILGU) made their first submission to the Oireachtas sub-committee on the issue of equal status. And it was clear that both sides were ready to confront the now familiar loophole offered by the constitutional right to free association.

It further emerged that the ILGU have been in contact with the Equal Opportunities Commission in Britain, so as to best represent the interests of their members in clubs in Northern Ireland. And on the advice of senior counsel, they have made a submission to our Department of Justice on the status of women in golf.

Prior to this, the ILGU had favoured a "softly, softly" approach. While co-operating fully with their male counterparts in the Golfing Union of Ireland (GUI), they hoped to bring about change through gentle persuasion at club level.

Based on the British experience, however, they have now concluded that it is not possible for clubs, of themselves, to achieve the necessary change. It can only be done with the backing of Government legislation.

The ILGU delegation comprised Eileen Fingleton (The Heath), who is chairwoman of the union's equal status sub-committee, Helen O'Boyle, Pat Tierney and Aedin McCarthy.

O'Boyle, who is a solicitor and a member of Bray GC, made an impressive submission to the Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Women's Rights which is part of the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality and Women's Rights and was chaired by Monica Barnes TD.

To illustrate a change of emphasis from the politicians' perspective, Barnes said: "There is now an employment element to the issue. We are aware that a lot of networking is done on golf courses and if women are excluded from these, they are effectively being deprived of equality of opportunity in the workplace."

The main thrust of the ILGU case was based on a survey - 277 out of 341 clubs responded - which was carried out on their behalf last year by Lansdowne Market Research. It found that while progress had undoubtedly been made on the issue, women were still largely excluded from the most important club committees.

O'Boyle went on to make some telling points regarding the problems that women face, even where full membership is available to them. "Some clubs are demanding large entrance fees from existing women members on becoming full members," she said.

She went on: "No account is taken of the fact that these women are already members of their clubs and have paid subscriptions and levies over many years. It has meant that in certain cases, women have been asked to pay anything from £2,500 up to £10,000 which leaves them incredibly disadvantaged."

The three main submissions made by the ILGU were that legislation is necessary to deal with the problem, that it should be introduced without delay and that because women in golf clubs are more severely affected by discrimination in private members clubs than any other group of women, the legislation should address their particular difficulties.

In the past, the Registration of Clubs Act 1904 to 1995, which deals with licences, was seen as a way of bringing male-dominated clubs to heel. Legal experts, however, took the view that attempts at using it to deprive offending clubs of their licences were unconstitutional. In the event, much sabre-rattling in this area came to nothing.

Now, the ILGU want the Act to be amended so as to give it the necessary teeth. They point out that Section 4 (d) of the act requires that "all members shall be elected by the whole body of members or by the committee of governing body, with or without specially added members."

O'Boyle said: "We would like to see the Act amended to the effect that if certain categories of adult members are not permitted to attend and vote at general meetings and to stand for office, those conditions are not complied with."

The ILGU also want a re-drafting of the 1997 Equality Bill - which, incidentally, is to come before the Dail during the current session - allowing it to deal specifically with the problem of "entrance fees" for associates wishing to become full members.

They further pointed out that effective equal status legislation would make it easier for men and women to remove discrimination from golf clubs. But they added that the legislation would be rendered ineffective "if people using it risked expulsion from their clubs."

In their view: "Equal status legislation should include protection against victimisation for any person requesting the District Court to make a determination under the Act."

Responding to O'Boyle's submission, sub-committee member Eoin Ryan TD said: "It's difficult to believe that clubs think they can get away with this level of discrimination." It was a typical response from those representatives present, but the ILGU officials could be forgiven for thinking they had heard such sentiments before, to little or no effect.

In my view, the greatest hope of success from these latest moves would appear to lie in the Registration of Clubs Act. And we were informed that the Minister for Justice is looking at the possibility of amending it, along the lines recommended by the ILGU. If this doesn't happen, the likelihood is that that the equality issue will simply drift on and on.

Apparent progress in rural clubs has come about largely through financial expediency. But certain Dublin clubs such as Elm Park and The Island have made significant moves towards total equality.

For the most part, however, discrimination is alive and well in the majority of clubs in the metropolitan area. For them, the carrot of structural grants cannot be a factor; only the stick would appear to offer a solution. And after much fudging, it looks as if it may be eventually on the way.

Through an error in converting from Euros, we listed the prizemoney for this year's AIB Irish Seniors Open at Mount Juliet from May 14th to 16th as £317,000 in Tuesday's paper. It should be £200,000.

Vincent Tshabalala, the black professional golfer who accused the Southern Africa Tour of `anti-black sentiment', is to be asked to put his grievances before the Tour's players' committee and board of directors.

Arnold Mentz, the SA Tour commissioner, said yesterday that Tshabalala's remarks over his dissatisfaction with the treatment of black golfers would be dealt with at the Tour's next meeting.

"Tshabalala's latest remarks to the media will be dealt with in-house. The Tour has set rules and regulations which all the players have agreed upon," Mentz said in a statement.