Mary McKenna, Ireland's most successful woman amateur golfer, has been appointed captain of the teams that will represent Great Britain and Ireland in the 2007 Vagliano Trophy and the 2008 Curtis Cup.

She will be assisted by Tegwen Matthews, who has accepted the position of manager of both sides.

McKenna has an unrivalled record which includes winning eight Irish titles between 1969 and 1989 and playing in nine successive Curtis Cup matches. In 2000 she was captain of the GB&I team at the World Amateur Team Championship.

"I am really delighted with this great honour," she said before sounding a note of caution. "With the 2008 Curtis Cup match being played early in the year (at St Andrews on May 31st-June 1st) it will be a challenge to pull the players together into a cohesive team.

"Obviously at that stage, we will not have had a reasonable chance to see the team members in real competitive action. After this year's match in America I will sit down with the Training Committee to plan out the next two years. I do feel that it will be essential to give the squad members as much time playing in match play conditions as possible."

Matthews is captain of this year's Welsh team following a career that started when she represented Wales aged only 14. She played in four Curtis Cup matches.

Ireland's Ada O'Sullivan is captain and Fiona Norris manager for this year's Curtis Cup at Bandon Dunes in Oregon, on July 29th-30th.