The GAA’s Youth Leadership & Sustainability Manager Jimmy D’Arcy speaking at Croke Park.
The impact of climate change on the playing of Gaelic games has become very real in recent seasons. Month after month of rain left many pitches unplayable for long periods last year, matches and training sessions were postponed and cancelled, team schedules as well as personal and family plans turned upside down.
Predictions for future weather patterns suggest significantly more rain generally, and more frequent extreme weather events, including downpours and flooding as well as periods of drought during the summer.
Not only do these changes seriously challenge the way we organise Gaelic games and protect and maintain our facilities, but they also pose a major threat to our communities and society at large.
“We have a responsibility to contribute to the solution,” says the GAA’s Youth Leadership & Sustainability Manager Jimmy D’Arcy. “Climate change is affecting us, but we can also do things to protect ourselves, to reduce our environmental impact and to operate in a more sustainable way. And we have the means!”.
In 2019 a small group of GAA and Croke Park staff members responded to calls from GAA Clubs for some guidance on responding to climate change and to also share some stories of Clubs who had taken the lead in their own communities. D’Arcy, along with GAA Community & Health Manager Colin Regan and then Croke Park Sustainability Officer Míde Ni Shúilleabháin went about establishing a GAA Green Club Programme.
Modelled on the successful Health Club programme, the Green Club programme has just completed its second phase and saw 94 Clubs recognised for their achievements at an event in Croke Park on Nov 9th last [https://www.gaa.ie/article/incredible-efforts-of-gaa-s-green-clubs-celebrated-in-croke-park-ceremony\]. The programme is supported with advice from expert organisations and case studies from leading clubs that have been incorporated into a Green Club Toolkit that is freely available to all Clubs online at https://learning.gaa.ie/greenclub .
Phase 3 of the programme is now open for applicants at https://greenclubs.gaa.ie/ until Sunday Jan 26th.
A Sustainability strategy for the Association at large will also be published this year identifying ways that action can be taken at all levels of the organisation.
Being more sustainable, reducing our environmental impact and working in harmony with the physical environment around us is built into GAA values, argues D’Arcy. “We are a collective of communities grounded in place, but also heritage. And while we compete whole heartedly on the field, we collaborate really well off it. This programme is a testimony to that and to our ability to create partnerships, not only with our expert partners, but also with local government, a relationship that is at the heart of the programme.”
The work has attracted the attention of the Department of Environment, Climate & Communications as well as other sporting organisations eager to follow the lead.
ACCESS project and GAA inspiring Sustainability Programme across Irish sport.
Sporting bodies, organisations, and clubs can lead climate action in a really meaningful way according to D’Arcy. “All sports organisations have access to a community that when looked at collectively can have a significant impact on how we all live our lives,” he adds.
“The whole idea is to try to take it above the area of individual responsibility. By coming together in communities of interest like GAA members or soccer supporters, that by working together, we can have a real impact and also experience a community of support for our actions.”
Reflecting the leadership of the GAA and its clubs, the Green Club Programme has now been identified as the inspiration for a response to climate change across the sports sector. Back in April 2024 an event entitled ‘Activating the Sports Sector for Sustainability’, hosted by the GAA at Croke Park was held as part of the requirements of a European funded project called ACCESS (Achieving Circularity in Cities through Environmental Sustainability of Sports) [https://access-cc.eu/\].
“We were able to invite the likes of the Department of Sport, Department of Transport, the Irish Sports Council, and other stakeholders from the sport and community sector in Ireland to the event”, reflects D’Arcy.
A number of different aspects concerning the response of the sports sector to climate change were discussed. “Stadium Director Peter McKenna opened proceedings, and spoke about a lot of innovations that Croke Park have implemented and are continuing to implement to keep the stadium at the forefront of sustainability standards for sport stadia,” D’Arcy says.
“We had Seán McCabe, the head of climate justice and sustainability from Bohemians Football Club. He gave us a very informative and challenging presentation on the situation we are in, and some of the key things to consider when trying to engage a sports community in action. “We had the GAA's Green Clubs sustainability advisor, Míde Ní Shuilleabháin, she moderated a panel discussion that included Dr Rob Mooney from the Department of the Environment, Climate, and Communications, Roisín Greaney from TASC, Elaine Nevin from ECO-UNESCU, and Padraig Fallon, the chairperson of the Green Clubs steering group, Louise Burke from Sport Ireland, and Hugh Coughlan from the Regional Waste Authorities.”
The response to the event was so positive that the Dept of Environment, Climate and Communications decided to convene a formal process across the sports sector to look at the challenges and opportunities associated with climate change.
A collaborative approach is vital according to D’Arcy, who is proud that the GAA is recognised as an SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) champion. “That was one of the instigators for this work,” D’Arcy remarks.
“Sports organisations aren't experts in sustainability or responses to climate change, SDG goal number 17 is partnerships. So, partnerships are a foundation stone of what we are trying to do.
“With regard to the Green Club programme, we have a set of expert partners that have provided us with the technical guidance for our clubs to take action across the five thematic areas - energy, water, waste, biodiversity, and transport.
“Those expert partners are the SEAI - Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Uisce Éireann and the Local Authorities water programme LAWPRO, the Regional Waste Authorities, The National Biodiversity Data Centre, and the NTA and RSA for travel.
“Without them we couldn't do what we have done with the Green Club Programme. Now the broader sports sector is really stepping up as well.”
People are becoming increasingly aware of environmental issues. D’Arcy believes that working with other groups and sporting communities is hugely important. “There is an absolute sea change in terms of, not only awareness, but an intention to do something across society that maybe wasn’t there before,” he adds.
“There is a story in the media every week, if not every day, that is outlining some kind of extreme weather event or a more general impact from climate change. We're seeing it ourselves in terms of going through prolonged wet periods, it is affecting the playability of pitches.
“We know from scientific models that we're going to have wetter weather in general, and also a higher frequency of extreme weather events in the future. Everybody is really aware now of the challenge, but people need assistance in figuring out what to do, how to do it, and where maybe to get funding to do it.
“The Green Club Programme helps Gaelic Games clubs do that and other sports bodies, through the process established by the Dept of Environment, Climate & Communications are now following our lead.”
Lead by the DECC and supported by the GAA, a pilot Green Club Programme is now being established for the broader sports sector and a pilot will begin very shortly.