GAA and HSE to Champion Dementia Inclusive Clubs
The GAA and the HSE’s Dementia: Understand Together campaign will use Saturday’s All-Ireland Football semi-final at Croke Park to highlight the importance of clubs remaining welcoming spaces for people living with dementia.
The initiative, titled Standing Together on and off the Pitch, has been developed in partnership with the family of former GAA President Seán McCague, who lived with dementia for ten years before his death in November 2022.
McCague, one of the most respected figures in the Association, served as GAA President from 2000 to 2003. A proud Monaghan man and lifelong Scotstown club member, his connection to the GAA remained a vital part of his life after his diagnosis, providing social contact, familiarity, identity and friendship for him and his family.
That lived experience is at the heart of the new campaign.
A special video recorded at Scotstown GAA Club will be shown on the big screens at Croke Park during the All-Ireland Football semi-final on Saturday, July 12th. It will also be shared across the GAA’s network of more than 2,000 clubs and through its digital channels.
Before the throw-in, GAA members living with dementia and their carers will unfurl a large Dementia Inclusive Community banner on the Croke Park pitch, featuring the national symbol of solidarity and support for people living with dementia.
The campaign is designed to encourage clubs to recognise the role they can play in keeping members connected after a dementia diagnosis. It highlights how small gestures can make a meaningful difference, whether that is accompanying someone to a match, welcoming them at the gate, sharing memories of previous games, or simply ensuring they continue to feel part of the club’s life.
Dublin GAA stars Niamh and John Hetherton are supporting the campaign as ambassadors, drawing on their own family experience of dementia.
GAA President Jarlath Burns said the initiative was closely aligned with the GAA’s sense of belonging and community.
“The GAA motto ‘Where We All Belong’ is something we try to bring to life every day, and I can’t think of a better way to do that than by ensuring those living with dementia in our communities and their families know the GAA is somewhere they belong,” he said.
“Having the McCague family involved makes this extra special for the GAA. While Seán was a unique individual and an exceptional leader, he was ultimately a GAA volunteer who worked tirelessly to make the Association as inclusive as possible. We’re delighted to honour his legacy in this way.”
Emma McCague, Seán’s daughter, said the support shown by Scotstown GAA after her father’s diagnosis had been of immense importance to the family.
“From our own lived experience of Dad’s diagnosis, we wish to emphasise the importance of the support that the GAA community and society at large can give to people and families who are living with dementia,” she said.
“The friendship, support and kindness shown to us from Scotstown GAA club can undoubtedly be replicated in GAA clubs and communities across Ireland. This support truly negates the feelings of isolation and loneliness that a dementia diagnosis can, unfortunately, bring.”
Professor Seán O’Dowd, Consultant Neurologist at Tallaght University Hospital and Clinical Lead for the HSE’s National Dementia Office, said social engagement has an important role to play both in brain health and in quality of life after diagnosis.
“Initiatives such as this partnership with the GAA are particularly important as they demonstrate, in a very practical way, how inclusive community environments can support people to remain connected, active and valued following a diagnosis,” he said.
The campaign is being supported by the Global Brain Health Institute at Trinity College Dublin.
Minister of State for Older People Kieran O’Donnell also welcomed the initiative, saying the GAA was “uniquely placed to make a meaningful difference” through its reach into communities across the country.
The partnership builds on a number of GAA initiatives around dementia and age-friendly inclusion. Croke Park became the first stadium in the world to receive the World Health Organisation’s Age Friendly designation in 2022, while the Association has also worked with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and Engaging Dementia as official charities.
Earlier this year, The Replay was launched in partnership with the Alzheimer Society of Ireland and RTÉ Archives, using the commentary of the late Míchéal Ó Muircheartaigh as a form of reminiscence therapy for those living with mild cognitive decline or dementia. Supporters attending Saturday’s semi-final will be able to experience The Replay at a special location in the Fan Zone near the Mícheál Cusack statue on the Cusack Stand concourse.
For the GAA, this weekend’s activation is about much more than a single matchday message. It is a call to clubs across the island to consider how they welcome, support, and continue to involve members whose lives have been changed by dementia.
In many communities, the local GAA club is where stories are shared, friendships are maintained, and identity is reinforced. The message from Croke Park this weekend is that those bonds should not end with a diagnosis.
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