Limerick hurler Dan Morrissey, former Galway hurler and physiotherapist Iggy Clarke, Sarah O'Toole, Executive Director of Samaritans Ireland and Dublin footballer Nicole Owens, right, marking the 10-year anniversary of Samaritans as the GAA Mental Health Partner at Croke Park in Dublin. Through the partnership, GAA players and former players team up with Samaritans volunteers from across the country to reduce the stigma around mental health and encourage anyone in need to seek help. For information contact s.stack@samaritans.org. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile.
By John Harrington
The 10-year anniversary of Samaritans as the GAA’s Mental Health Partner was celebrated in Croke Park on Thursday.
Through this partnership the Association has teamed up with Samaritans volunteers from across the country to reduce the stigma around mental health while also encouraging members experiencing challenging times to avail of the charity’s 24-hour 365 days-a-year helpline (freecall 116 123).
At grassroots level Samaritans volunteers liaise with the GAA’s County Health & Wellbeing Committees and Healthy Club Officers to raise awareness of its services and encourage anyone going through a difficult time to access the support available.
“10 years ago there was a serious conversation just really starting to emerge about mental health in Ireland," says the GAA's Community and Health Manager, Colin Regan.
"Samaritans were phenomenal facilitators of that and were doing it quietly for people for a long, long time before that as well.
“We then had a number of high profile Gaelic games players who stepped into that conversation and broke down some of the stigma and in very authentic ways opened up a door for conversations for our young playing members male and female who maybe didn't realise that we actually do welcome those conversations within the GAA.
“What we were looking for at the time was a really trusted organisation that was 32 counties based and volunteer driven that shared the values of the Association and would give our members the opportunity to have a non-judgemental listening ear at any time of the day when they might need it.
“It has been very significant for us to be able to attach to our communications to clubs that we the GAA are partners with the Samaritans.
“At the same time the Samaritans were launching 116 123 as a 32-county helpline and we loved the simplicity of it, we loved how easy that message was to carry, and we know our clubs like being able to pass that on to their wider members and be reassured that there's going to be a trained individual on the other side of that phone who will deal with everything that you might want to talk about and deal with it in a correct way and if additional support is needed they know how to signpost you on which is incredibly reassuring.
“What we want to achieve with this partnership is to reduce the number of suicides in Ireland but also work upstream and just ensuring we are doing everything we can do develop our members, our volunteers, our neighbours and our families so hopefully they don't get to that stage where they consider a long-term solution to a short-term problem.”
GAA-Samaritans Ireland Project Coordinator, Majella Canty, talks to GAA.ie
Samaritans offers centralised training workshops on active listening skills to GAA coaches and managers on request and offers awareness talks at club level to GAA members.
They have also rolled out ‘The Huddle’ initiative to GAA clubs, which is a post-training talk emphasising the importance of mental and physical fitness to players and their management team.
It takes the form of a team-talk, but instead of speaking about match performance the Samaritans volunteer chats to players about mental health. How we can be aware of it, how we can improve it, how we can nurture it, and, most importantly, what to do if all isn't well.
“When we think about volunteers doing those huddle talks and giving a quick mental health talk to players, it's really incredible, and seems a world away from the quietness of the duty room that our volunteers would normally experience in one of our 24 locations across the island of Ireland,” says Sarah O’Toole, Executive Director of Samaritans Ireland.
“The work our volunteers do with the outreach work in communities, they're there to reach those groups that are sometimes hard to reach and it's just as important as taking those calls and we thank everyone who plays a role in that, from the club committees on the GAA side and coaches and also to those who listen.
“It's remarkable to think that an organisation as large as the GAA and a charity like Samaritans which is available 24 hours a day are both based on the good-will of people coming out, week after week, to support others.
“Volunteerism is the backbone of both organisations and both organisations are at the heart of their communities and none of the work that we do would be possible without our volunteers. So we're delighted to mark 10 years of working in partnership with the GAA.
“The real focus of this partnership is to reduce the stigma around mental health and suicide and also to increase the awareness of the importance of seeking help. You'll see in many clubs the Samaritans signage is very visible all over the country and we hope that makes a difference.
“This unique partnership with the GAA from Croke Park to county and club level and Samaritans volunteers at all levels is one we truly cherish.”
Samaritans is available round the clock, every single day of the year. They provide a safe place for anyone struggling to cope, whoever they are, however they feel, whatever life has done to them.
Their email and freephone helplines are anonymous. Please free-call 116 123 in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland or contact jo@samaritans.ie.