Limerick hurling stars show support at first event for visually-impaired players

Declan Hannon pictured with service users of the NCBI who participated in the first visually impaired hurling event

The National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) recently organised the first-ever visually impaired hurling event in Ireland as part of its Rise programme.

The event took place at Gaelscoil Chaladh an Treoigh (Castletroy) just before Christmas and featured some well-known Limerick names.

The session was the first of its kind and had the support of the three in-a-row, All Ireland Championship-winning, Limerick Senior Hurling team. Captain Declan Hannon and teammate Aaron Costello both attended the event.

The event was in collaboration with Vision Sports Ireland and Geraldine McTavish, the GAA Diversity and Inclusion Officer, and the support of NCBI’s children’s team on the day.

The goal was to make GAA more accessible to NCBI service users

Declan and Aaron presented medals to each of their groups in the form of “Participation Achievement Awards.”

To thank the Limerick players for their support on the day, the group gathered to present the Limerick players with a trophy. It may not be a Liam MacCarthy, but it was still the first trophy for the Limerick team going into the new year.

Aoibhe, a service user with NCBI who participated on the day, said: “I enjoyed hurling with the lads, and I definitely worked up a sweat, I would like to keep doing the rise project because the staff are all really nice and gave great tips. The best part was presenting the trophy to the lads.”

GAA Diversity and Inclusion officer Ger McTavish added: “Inclusion is about making a difference. Inclusivity is a movement, a move to include. Being truly inclusive is living our GAA motto, ‘Where we all belong’.”

The event championed inclusivity, diversity, and accessibility to a sport renowned in Ireland while celebrating the culture of GAA amongst the families who attended.

The session focused on orientation, mobility, endurance, and adaptive GAA equipment.

From the LIMERICK LEADER