GAA Green Clubs celebrating Climate Action Week
Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Jarlath Burns with Camogie Association president Brian Molloy, left, and Uachtarán Cumann Peil Gael na mBan Trina Murray pictured at Croke Park in Dublin during the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and County & City Management Association (CCMA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony for the GAA Green Club Programme. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile
For Climate Action Week (Oct 12th to 18th) this year we’re celebrating the success stories of GAA clubs across the country – clubs that have started generating their own green electricity, clubs that have created ‘hare’s corners’ for wildlife and biodiversity, clubs that have eliminated single use plastic from their grounds, clubs that are storing water from rainy days to water their pitches in long, dry summers.
Since 2020, the GAA’s Green Club programme has been supporting Gaelic Games clubs to take positive action for their clubs, community and the environment – clubs like Killarney’s Dr Crokes. One of the first GAA club in the country to install a solar PV system, Dr Crokes are now harvesting water to future-proof their facilities and the club also runs an inspiring biodiversity programme that brings together members of all ages and abilities in transforming the club grounds into a haven for pollinators and wildlife.
Not to be left behind their Kerry rivals, Dublin club Castleknock were recently listed by the Irish Times as one of Ireland’s Greenest Places, gaining national recognition for their ambitious, community-based programme of energy saving, waste reduction and biodiversity. With over 200 Gaelic Games clubs having received over €7m in funding this year through the Community Climate Action Fund and many more taking action with the help of the GAA’s Green Club Toolkit – a simple, innovative and practical resource for clubs that has been adapted and adopted by sports organisations in Ireland and across European – Gaelic Games clubs are showing how climate actions are also practical actions that help grow participation and support financial and operational sustainability in sport.
County boards and provincial set ups are getting in on the climate action too. For the second year running Ulster GAA’s Sporting Nature programme has triumphed over big names from across the international sporting scene at the prestigious Sports Positive Awards while counties like Cork, Louth and Meath are leading the way with exciting energy, waste and nature programmes in their county grounds and centres of excellence.
The Green Club Programme and Toolkit were developed in close collaboration with the local authority Climate Action Regional Offices, with the expert support of environmental agencies and NGOs north and south of the border, and these partnerships are at the heart of Green Club successes, nationally and locally.
On 22 November, Croke Park will host a recognition ceremony for those committed club volunteers who have done so much to future-proof their clubs, enhance their communities and protect the environment through the Green Club Programme. The event will also see the launch of a new component of the Green Club Toolkit, a Resilience and Response resource to help Gaelic Games face the challenges of a changing climate and support their communities in weather-related emergencies. Between now and then we’ll be featuring Green Club success stories from clubs and counties – coinnigh súil amach!
The Green Club Toolkit is available at https://learning.gaa.ie/GreenClub
More info on Climate Action Week can be found here https://climateactionweek.ie/