Inter-county players are role models in their community, driving social change. Our members play a unique and irreplaceable role in Irish society, heritage and culture. In 2021 we once again saw the players make sacrifices above and beyond for the betterment of Gaelic Games. This not only saw the successful completion of the GAA, LGFA and CA seasons, but also helped the associations to rebound financially across the board. Players competed during a level 5 lockdown in All-Ireland finals in December of 2020, followed by immediate preparation for the 2021 season. This commitment to Gaelic Games at the highest level must be acknowledged, respected and not forgotten.

I am hugely encouraged by the progress we made in 2021. More than 2,200 players received support through our world-class player development and welfare programmes. Over 800 male and female inter-county players received our education scholarship, and over 300 participated in our GPA Rookie programme. An investment of over €1 million was spent on education alone. Our Jim Madden Leadership programme received a best-in-class award from EU Athletes. Erasmus+ EU funding will now see other player unions across the EU adopt our leadership programme within their associations.

In 2021, the GPA also continued to work with many partners and donors who share the vision, direction and values of our members. We thank them for their fantastic support. Equality was included as a pillar of the association upon merging with the Women’s GPA. I can proudly say that inter-county players continue to lead the way when it comes to standing up for equality in sport. In 2021, the GPA established a new gender-balanced Board of Directors, we equalised access to programmes for female players, and Gemma Begley now fulfils the role of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion manager.

Gaelic games may be an amateur sport (which we endorse), but our inter-county athletes are far from amateur with the extraordinary performance levels we see today. As players, I know you are proud of being the best that you can be in sport.

The high-performance culture in our inter-county game is something we all should celebrate and recognise, sadly its often labelled as a problem.

The physical, mental and emotional requirements of being an inter-county player have changed significantly over the years.  It is imperative that there is a world class welfare programme in place for inter-county players. I am greatly enthused by how willing you are to engage with your players’ association to stand up for fellow players and ensure the athlete voice is heard. We must always ensure your voice is heard. Player consultation plays a key role in the decision-making process of sport around the world. It is great that all GPA members are also members of EU Athletes, and I am grateful for their guidance and support.

While this report deals specifically with 2021, it would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the achievements of players by using your collective voice to influence change over the period. We have seen the highest ever engagement by our members expressing their collective voice for change. Inter-county players led the way to raise an equality motion at GAA congress, that subsequently helped secure a commitment from the GAA, LGFA and CA to integrate and deliver “equal investment, recognition and opportunities for all”.

We saw significant player engagement with the Camogie Association when it came to the format of the season in 2021. Players from across the country stood together and were not afraid to make their views heard. To their credit, the Camogie Association listened to that voice and also to the voices of their clubs, in coming to a resolution.

We saw the collective inter-county player voice when it came to how you expressed views for the betterment of the inter-county football championship. Our input on the Fixtures Review Taskforce, through our representative Ronán Sheehan, saw the Green Proposal passed at Congress, with 80% of players backing the proposal. This would not have been achieved were it not for the effort of players and other like-minded leaders within the Gaelic family. Players debated and argued their case respectfully and passionately, and for that I am incredibly proud.

We saw the collective power of players standing together when it came to the renegotiation of the player’s charter. This was a debate around respect and equal treatment of players no matter what county you play for, but also respect and recognition for taking reduced expenses on an interim basis during a global pandemic. I want to thank the team that the GAA put in place to resolve the issue for being open, fair and solution focused. We have begun negotiations on the new player’s charter for 2023.

We have a professional and strong working relationship with the GAA centrally. It is imperative that we continue to defend and promote the rights, interests and voice of inter-county players.  For that, I would like to thank GAA President Larry McCarthy and Director General Tom Ryan. Naturally, we don’t always see eye to eye on every matter, however, that is the nature of the relationship between a players’ body and a national governing body.

As one united players’ association we have been building the relationship with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association and the Camogie Association. In particular want to thank LGFA CEO Helen O’Rourke and CA CEO Sinéad McNulty for their work in this regard.

I do think it is important to put on the record that the GPA is the official representative body for all inter-county players. We work with the LGFA and CA on securing and distributing government funding. It continues to be imperative that we promote solidarity and cooperation between inter-county players, their players association and our national governing bodies.

Following the WGPA Levelling the Field report and various engagements on the topic of equality, the Minister of State for Sport Jack Chambers increased funding for female players to €2.4 million from €700,000, an increase of €1.7 million, in 2021. The challenge still remains that there is no charter in place for female players, but the GPA is committed to the pursuit of equality with the NGBs.

There is a collective responsibility across the NGB’s and players to fast-track progress on delivering improved standards for females in our games. I am delighted that someone of the calibre of former President of Ireland Mary McAleese has been appointed to chair the Gaelic games integration process.

Our members give everything to our national games and they deserve to be fully supported in their efforts during their playing careers and beyond. The remodelling and relaunch of our Player Development Programme in 2021 is, without doubt, one of the biggest highlights of my time in the role of CEO. BEO360 has re-energised and reinvigorated how we engage with you our members and deliver upon your needs. Please take a look at all that is on offer on the website. There is support there for you in all aspects of your lives away from the field of play. That includes help in times of crisis and help with your development, be that in your career, studies or your personal life.

There is always more that unites us within the Gaelic games family than divides us. Parish, club and county rivalries are the lifeblood of our games but what makes our games special is that we are all part of something bigger than us all. That is why, despite the heart-breaking sadness, I have reflected deeply on the sad passing of our fellow inter-county colleagues, Red Óg Murphy, Damian Casey and Dillon Quirke.

To see how communities showed compassion, care and above all wrapped their arms around grieving families who lost a loved one, shows all that is good about belonging to the Gaelic Games family. To see how county rivalries were set aside as inter-county players felt the loss and remembered our fellow players. All of this was a reminder to me that there are far more important things than winning and losing on a field of play.

There are no other words of comfort I can offer Red Og, Damian, or Dillon’s families at such a difficult time, other than, we the inter-county players, no matter what jersey we wear or county we represent, are truly sorry for your unimaginable loss.

They were among the best of us. They will never be forgotten.

Any player who has been impacted by the sad passing of our colleagues can get support through our counselling service and I would encourage you to do so.

To conclude I wanted to say a huge word of thanks to the GPA Board of Directors led by Brian MacCraith and the GPA National Executive Committee (NEC). Thanks to our NEC Co-Chairs Maria Kinsella and Matt O’Hanlon, our President Donal Óg Cusack and Secretary Aoife Murray. Without your support, advice and guidance my job would be an awful lot tougher. A genuine and heartfelt thanks.

To the GPA staff, thank you for welcoming me into your team. I am proud to see the commitment and motivation by you all in supporting our members across our strategic pillars
And most importantly I want to thank you, my fellow and former players. It is a privilege to represent you. Your support is invaluable. Your collective voice is powerful. Don’t ever be silent when you have something to say.

A new National Executive Committee was formed.  It was a proud moment for the both of us to be selected by our peers to the positions of Co-Chairs of the GPA National Executive Committee in 2021. We were truly honoured to take up the roles created as part of the merger.  We want to make it clear that despite each of us having come from one or other of the GPA or WGPA, we are both committed to working on behalf of all of our 4,000 members without fear of favour.

We would like to thank Tom Parsons for the work carried out in the role of Chairman and his continued contribution as CEO of the organisation. He has continued to move the organisation forward building on the foundations laid by former CEO Paul Flynn and others preceding him.

Tom leads a team who work tirelessly on behalf of players.  The highlights of their work can be seen in this report and we want to acknowledge their contribution and service.

We want to extend our gratitude to all of the National Executive Committee members for their time and commitment throughout 2021. It was a challenging environment for us all to navigate, but we took solace in the contributions made by the committee to steer us through soundly. You can be very proud of how you have served your fellow inter-county players during this time.

The NEC is made up completely of players and former players.  It is the group which formulates policy and decides on the direction the GPA takes.  It stands unapologetically for players and will continue to do so.  As Co-Chairs of the NEC we encourage all our members to have their voice heard and to take advantage of the supports we have in place for all aspects of your lives.

Equality is not just a buzz word within our organisation.  Since our merger, many practical and effective steps have been taken to ensure we live up to our commitments under this pillar.  That in itself was the first step – seeing equality written into the new GPA constitution as a pillar of our work.

This has led to a number of important moves including the reorganisation of the NEC to reflect the male to female ratio amongst our membership and the distribution of the four executive positions equally between male and female members.

Our board was also realigned to reflect our goal of equality.  There is a 50:50 female to male split under the stewardship of Chairman Brian MacGraith. We would like to thank the 12 board members for giving of their time voluntarily to ensure proper governance and oversight of our organisation.

We should also mention the rebrand of the GPA.  We now have an identity that all our members, male and female can identify with and our brand colours are consistent with our four pillars including white for equality.

Most importantly, we have been able to provide the same services and supports to our female members as we have for our male members.  This is hugely significant to the lives of these players who give so much of themselves.

Throughout 2021, the GPA underwent a significant launch of a new platform designed to supercharge how we support our players. BEO 360 launched nationally and led to increase engagement numbers across all male and female players. This platform allows us to streamline our support models for the most important areas of development for our players.

This is a fundamental improvement in how we can continue to contribute to players development off the pitch as well as on it. Huge well done to Ian Reeves, Jennie Rogers and Eamonn Murphy for leading this work along with the wider GPA team.

BEO360 incorporates a number of programmes and events including our annual Rookie Camp, the Next Gen Leaders programme and Google Business Mentoring. Each of these has proved to be in valuable to players at different stages of their inter-county careers.

While this area is covered in more detail in the CEO’s message, we do want to echo his words when it comes to the strength of the collective players’ voice.  You have had a major influence on a number of really important matters to players in recent times.

Your unity on these matters has given the NEC the confidence and authority to argue strongly on your behalf, knowing that we are being led by your views.  The GPA is a ground up organisation.  Your views as players, will always be the determining factor on any position we take on all major issues facing players.  Please continue to have your voice heard.

It will take some time before the full impact of Covid-19 and lockdowns will be known.  What is clear is that it has had both a physical and emotional impact.  We want to use this opportunity to encourage all our members not to neglect your emotional health.

As players, we spend so much time concentrating on our physical fitness that our mental fitness is overshadowed.  That can mean in some cases our mental health only gets much needed consideration if and when a crisis arises.

In as much as we want you to use your voice to be heard when it comes to your views on matters impacting your lives as players, please also use your voice if you are struggling emotionally.  The GPA has various supports in place including our online platform SilverCloud, our text support service and our phone counselling lines.

Please make use of these supports or talk to a trusted person within your circle of friends and family.  You are never on your own.

To the family, friends, clubmates and county colleagues of the former players who passed away in 2021 we offer our condolences.  We represent players past and present and we understand that the current generation of players are carrying on a legacy handed down to us.  We feel the loss of players from the past and remember them.

We remember too the lives cut short by Covid-19 in our communities and clubs over the last 12 months.  Our members have been on the frontline in the fight against this virus and have seen and felt its impact.

Tragedy has touched the GAA community in too many ways throughout the last year.  We mourn the young lives lost.

And we remember Red Óg, Damian and Dillon.  We think of their families, their friends and their teammates.  When the time is right and circumstances allow, we will find a way to honour and celebrate their legacies.