I am highly disgusted by NH’s article. She took what was said out of context and twisted it. Railway have not been shown in a good light nor the image of women in rugby. Rugby is for all shapes, sizes and heights. There is no discrimination! That’s what I liked the most about railway! They took me in, a very overweight unfit girl from coolock who never played rugby before last year and moulded me into a better player with high standards of rugby and very high goals and made me realise my potential! We are there to play rugby and be the best we can be and if we wanted to look pretty we can stand on the sidelines and fake an injury.. I pride myself in wearing my railway gear. I pride myself in telling people where I play it is the best thing I’ve ever done with my life. We have an amazing social team and are always there for each other! Ms. Horan has taken what could have been a fantastic piece and made it about herself and made sleezy and unnecessary comments and stereotypes.. We don’t get paid for playing we do it because it’s something we are dedicated to! Something we go straight from work to and forget about the world for a while. I travel two hours on buses to and from training every Tuesday and nd Thursday and I love every minute of it. Do you think I’d do that if the club were a bunch of fake molly dollys that Horan made us out to be.. and if you want more information about us come down to our training on Tuesday in sandymount about 7 and have about tend look for yourself :)

Saw that article on Facebook today, the standard of journalism involved and the condescending tone of the entire piece was beyond insulting! Nothing shocking about the Irish Independent printing this nonsense unfortunately, it’s been a rag for a long time now!

Your first mistake Katy, was assuming that Niamh Horan is a journalist in any sense of the word.

She has plenty of form in putting uninformed drivel to print in the past.

Squalid article. Especially so when you consider that some of the girls Niamh Horan “trained” with when researching (if I can use that word) this article are U18 including my daughter.

Presume the threesome comment is a reference her story a while back about an alleged encounter between a (female) student and two members of the (male) Irish team. Yeeuch. Horrible.

Well said, women’s rugby is amateur in Ireland. The writing doesn’t have to be. Players of this and, any sport and dedicated to their team and club. Putting our bodies on the line week in, week out. Best of luck to the ladies on Wednesday!

Well said! The article, and accompanying photographs were condescending in the extreme!

Awful article by an awful wannabe journalist. #thisiswomensrugby to see the response from women around the country to this muck

The headline ‘I never play a game without my tan’. Cringe. It was probably done by a subeditor but it’s a real slap in the face for the women’s game.
Tbf, Eamonn Sweeney had a good article on the team in the Sindo’s sports section today and mostly, the coverage over the last couple of years has been professional.
But there is major room for improvement, and the Irish team are helping to move this along, on the pitch and in the stands.
I’d like to see them get a bigger venue for their home matches – i.e the RDS.
Can’t wait for Wed.

No criticism for the editorial team Katy?

The narrative about rugby being the sport of choice for the middle classes in Ireland is incorrect, possibly in England this is true. The esri study on sports participation showed that gaelic football is the most popular sport amongst middle class professions

There are some good sports section writers in the Independent, like Neil Francis and the guy who writes the back page stuff. The main section and magazine, however, are full of vacuous inanity passed of as opinion. You can’t really expect any better from this Niamh Horan individual. I’ve occasionally read a few lines of her pieces, and it’s all sensationalist rubbish

Thanks you Katy!

A great article, written with honesty and insight.
As for the hostile reaction to the word ‘posh’ in relation to fee-paying schools, grow up and look up the dictionary definition of the word and you will find that it is a near perfect adjective to describe fee-paying schools which are obviously exclusive in nature and only available to people with financial means (apart from the odd scholarship of course!).

Her twitter bio does say she’s a Sunday Indo Columnist. But it also says, journalist and editor, i.e. freelance.
Let’s give her a break. Great article, Katy.

Excellent article Katy. But this wasn’t Wmen’s team “first time in the sun” after defeating New Zealand. They were the 2013 Six Nations Women”s champs beating England Wales Scotland and France.

Sindo journalist generating more publicity for typically awful Sindo article

Keep the fiath Katy , don’t let them drag you down. You wrote a good article so you did.
And COYGIG.

Hi Katy, it was really the wider narrative that I was getting at not so much your article which I enjoyed, good journalism

Well said!

Niamh horan and the Indo got exactly what they wanted from the article… A hype, a reaction… They are now focused on gutter press and rumour more than actual writing because they realized the rest of the world has passed them by.. In saying that there is no excuse for demeaning rugby with that sort of absolute shite.. And to bring it out in the midst of one of the country’s greatest sporting achievements in any field has done nothing except try and deter from the success… It’s like the Indo and Niamh Moron felt like little children who weren’t getting enough attention so they needed to write this. She is not a journalist in any way. I’m sure she is getting great Craic out of this herself and feels popular because she trended on twitter etc but if that’s how she needs attention I think she has bigger issues… Hope Ireland knock lumps out of England and go on to beat canada or whoever in the final! #COYGIG

Great piece Katy.What an oppertuinity Niamh Horan was handed right on a plate. An oppertuinity to shine a light on what it’s like in the life of a female rugby player. The sacrifice, the blood , the sweat and the tears. All of what you hear when you read a piece on men’s rugby. A chance to gather support for our national team for their heroics to date in the world cup. Irish womens sports people never get the credit they deserve even though the sacrifice is often a lot more than that of there male counterparts. One such example is how often we hear about the Kilkenny and Kerry four in a row. The Kerry Ladies Football Team won nine All Ireland tittles in a row and The Cork ladies Football Team won five All Ireland Titles in a row but how often do we hear about it. This journalist working for a national newspaper never thought of these stats. Instead she based her article around making comments based on the looks and sexuality of women who represent their country at the highest level. She should be ashamed of herself.