SINCE its foundation in 1974 the Ladies Gaelic Football Association has made steady progress in its mission to get young girls and women involved in a sport traditionally regarded as a male preserve.
The association says that their sport is the fastest growing in the country and the evidence from around the counties tends to back up their claim.
Twelve counties are competing at senior level - Kerry, Waterford, Clare, Cork, Dublin, Wexford, Westmeath, Meath, Wicklow, Laois, Monaghan and Mayo - but every county, with the exception of Kilkenny, is involved in junior women's football.
Michael McKeown, football coaching supervisor with the Monaghan County Board, says the sport is booming all over the country. "The standard and level of participation has risen enormously in the ladies' game in the county and all over the country in the past few years.
"This year we've been coaching over 66 schools throughout Monaghan. That's over 3,000 kids and half of them are girls. It's the same with the summer camps we hold. We had 1,500 kids attending them this year and 800 of them were girls, " says McKeown who, with Des Patton and Mickey Morgan, manages the current Monaghan women's team.
Evidence of the development of the game is demonstrated by the fact that for the first time in 14 years the All Ireland winners will come from outside Munster.
The women's championship was dominated by Kerry, who won nine senior titles in a row in the 1980s, and by Waterford for the past five years. But this year either Monaghan or Laois will get their name on the trophy for the first time.
Despite being part of the Gaelic games `family' the women's association is not yet affiliated to the GAA, a move president Helen O'Rourke hopes will happen later this year. "We're recognised but not affiliated to the GAA. Ours is a similar position to that of camogie," says O'Rourke.
"It's something we're discussing because we have to see how our members feel. We'll be making moves in that direction in time for the Annual Congress. Many of us would like to be affiliated because we feel it would make life easier and, after all, we are promoting Gaelic games."
