GAA Green Clubs leading out on Inclusion 

The new sensory play area in Gort GAA in Galway might take up a small corner of the club’s grounds but has made a big difference to the children and parents of the community. Designed especially for children with additional needs, the sensory play area has been a hit with locals of all ages, abilities and backgrounds, bringing new children and families into the life and activities of the club. Bordered by vibrant natural hedgerows and wildflower areas, with a specially designed biodiverse touch-and-smell herb garden and play equipment made from recycled tyres and pallets, the Gort GAA sensory area is a space for inclusion that also epitomises the club’s commitment to environmental and climate action.

Across the border in the Banner in Co. Clare, gear and hurl swaps not only ensure that clothing and equipment are given a second life but also make access to Gaelic Games activities affordable for all members of the community. In neighbouring club Clarecastle the partnership between the GAA club and the school has created new safe active travel routes to school and training, forged links across generations in the biodiversity walkway and community garden projects and opened the club up to children and families who might never have previously experienced Gaelic Games.

Gort, the Banner and Clarecastle are just some of the clubs who have inspired the development of the GAA’s new Green Club Inclusion Toolkit. Launched in Croke Park earlier this month and supported with funding from Pobal’s Community Climate Action Programme, the Green Club Inclusion Toolkit is a set of resources that helps clubs identify and undertake actions that benefit both people and place. The simple climate and environmental actions and approaches set out in the Toolkit combine club experience with national expertise in inclusion and climate action to support clubs in reaching out to those in their communities who may be marginalised, feel excluded or encounter physical, structural or social barriers in accessing club and community life.

The Inclusion Toolkit is part of the GAA’s Green Club Programme, which since 2020 has worked with Gaelic Games clubs across Ireland to take positive action in the areas of Energy, Waste, Water, Biodiversity and Travel & Transport. The new Inclusion resources include guidance on identifying and reaching out to seldom heard groups in local communities as well as simple and practical advice on climate action activities that engage everyone in the life of the club. Actions highlighted in the Toolkit include sustainable and active travel plans that can make clubs more accessible to those without cars while reducing the carbon impact of club activities, biodiversity projects where people of all ages and abilities can get involved to enhance the club and protect the environment, gear swaps and circular economy initiatives where waste is minimised and costs for club members are reduced, and energy projects where warmer clubhouses and energy efficient adjustable lighting makes the club more welcoming to community members and adaptable to different needs.

Speaking at the launch of the Green Club Inclusion Toolkit in Croke Park, GAA Youth Leadership & Sustainability Manager Jimmy D’Arcy emphasised the importance of the toolkit. "This set of resources, developed with the support of Pobal, and grounded in best practice and real life experiences, brings to life our commitment to inclusion as one of our core values, reflects the diversity of groups within our communities and helps us make Gaelic games clubs truly a place ‘Where We All Belong’."

Green Clubs in attendance at the launch also heard from former Tipperary hurler and Head of Participation and Rights Education for the Office of the Ombudsman for Children Timmy Hammersley, and Ulster GAA’s Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Officer, Tyrone footballer Niamh McElduff, who shared their experiences of bringing the views and voices of the seldom heard into policy, planning and action locally, regionally and nationally. Orla Farrell of Easy Treesie, who has led the planting of over 100,000 native trees in GAA clubs across Ireland, closed out the event.

The new Green Club Inclusion Toolkit, which contains video case studies, simple guidance and templates and a club training module is available on the Green Club Toolkit website at learning.gaa.ie/greenclub/inclusion