The first-ever GAA jersey to feature the LGBTQ+ pride colours was launched today by Prof Kerstin Mey, President of the University of Limerick, and Larry McCarthy, President of GAA.
The first-ever GAA jersey to feature the LGBTQ+ pride colours was launched on 27 September 2021 by UL President Kerstin Mey (pictured above) and GAA President Larry McCarthy.
The LGBTQ+ colours will be a permanent feature of the UL GAA Club jersey, which also features the logo of JIGSAW, a free non-judgemental and confidential mental health support service for young people.
Speaking at the launch event, Professor Mey said:
“The UL GAA Club has been in existence since the 1970s and I am very proud that our club jersey is the first in Ireland to feature the LGBTQ+ pride colours.
“A university is the natural home of equality, diversity and inclusion. Students from all parts of the world, from a huge variety of different cultures, backgrounds, creeds, and orientations come together to learn, live, play sport and recreate on our campus. We work hard to ensure that the UL environment is such that our students leave us not only as successful graduates in their chosen discipline but as civic-minded citizens with a global and inclusive mindset.”
The University of Limerick GAA Club was initially established in the National College of Physical Education (NCPE), in the 1970s. The club developed as the institution recreated itself from NCPE to Thomond College, to the National Institute of Higher Education, to the University of Limerick (UL). UL GAA club has gone from strength to strength, competing in hurling, football, ladies football and camogie. It now fields over 17 teams each year and has approximately 1,000 student members.
GAA President Larry McCarthy, a former member of the UL GAA club and UL graduate said:
“I am delighted to see that the mantra of the GAA, Where we all Belong, is manifested in the ethos and re-design of the jersey of UL GAA Club. Sport, like a university, is a natural home of equality where neither class, nor creed, nor colour, nor orientation, nor ability, should impact 0n participation. Playing the game quickly eliminates barriers between teammates and teams, and the GAA is proud of its philosophy that sport is indeed for all. I commend the UL GAA Club in being to the fore in propagating the GAA mantra.”