One Limerick GAA club honoured for their participation in a new Green Club programme

ONE Limerick GAA club have been recognised for their participation in Phase 1 of the Green Club programme.

Members of St Patricks GAA club attended the launch of the new Green Club Toolkit in Croke Park, where they were presented with a phase one club recognition plaque by Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications Executive Officer Robert Mooney, Chairman of the GAA Green Club Steering Committee Padraig Fallon, and Dublin City Council Executive Manager Liam Bergin.

Launched was a new GAA Green Club Toolkit, which will be freely available to all GAA, LGFA and Camogie Association units and members to support the implementation of sustainability actions across the five areas of Energy, Water, Waste, Biodiversity and Travel & Transport. 

The new GAA Green Club Toolkit is the culmination of two years of collaboration between the GAA and the local authority sector, led by the County and City Management Association (CCMA), on a project to support sustainability and climate action in clubs and communities. The GAA-CCMA partnership led to the establishment of the GAA Green Club Programme, which saw over 30 clubs, including Limerick's St Patricks, from across 17 counties participate in Phase 1 of the GAA’s first ever national grassroots sustainability initiative.

The new Toolkit offers advice to Gaelic Games clubs on how to engage in green and sustainable actions. Expert input from organisations and agencies across the island of Ireland, including the SEAI, Action Renewables, LAWPro, Irish Water, NI Water, the Regional Waste Management Offices, the National Biodiversity Data Centre, RSPB NI, the NTA, the RSA, Keep NI Beautiful and Sustainable NI, was crucial to the development of the toolkit. 

Expressions of interest for the next phase of the GAA Green Club Programme were opened at the Toolkit launch. An additional 75 Clubs from across the 32 counties will be selected to participate in Phase 2 of the GAA Green Club Programme, which will run from 2023 to 2024. 

The GAA Green Club Programme is supported by the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications and was featured as a case study in the recently launched Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) National Implementation Plan 2022-2024.

“The GAA is a games organisation but it is also an organisation built on our commitment to the communities that our clubs represent. This Green Clubs Toolkit will support our members to ensure that our extensive network of facilities at club and county level are equipped to follow best practice across the five pillars of Energy, Water, Waste, Biodiversity and Travel and to ensure we play our part as community leaders in environmental sustainability. After two years of hard work I want to thank all the organisation who collaborated on this initiative and look forward to the Green Club Toolkit being put into action by clubs at home and abroad," said GAA President Larry McCarthy said at the launch.

For more information visit gaa.ie/greenclub