Tipperary GAA Scene
By Jonathan Cullen PRO
Allianz Football & Hurling Leagues
Both Tipperary senior teams were in action last weekend in round 2 of the Allianz Leagues.
On Saturday, in front of a large crowd in Clonmel Sportsfield, Philly Ryan’s charges put in another very good performance that saw them claim the points over Longford. Tipperary’s winning score coming from Mark Russell who put over a two-pointer from the stand-side touchline to edge the Premier men home by a single point, much to the delight of the home supporters. See match report on pages 60 & 61.
Our senior hurlers were also on home ground as they welcomed Wexford to FBD Semple Stadium on Sunday afternoon. In a game that never really came to life, Liam Cahill’s side always seemed to have enough in reserve to keep their opponents at arm’s length. In the end Tipperary claimed their second win of the league, 1-22 to 0-19. See report on pages 62 & 63.
The senior hurlers will play Limerick next Sunday at 3.45pm in the TUS Gaelic Grounds in round 3, while our senior footballers have a weekend off ahead of their next game which will be against Waterford on Saturday week.
Tickets for Allianz League Games
Supporters are once again reminded that tickets for all Allianz League games must be purchased either online or in selected Centra and Supervalu stores as tickets will not be on sale at any venue.
Supporters are also reminded that there will be no Tap & Go in operation at match venues and as is the GAA’s policy for all competitions, no cash will be taken at the turnstiles.
Supporters are asked to plan their trip well in advance of each game and this should include making sure that you have your tickets purchased before departing for the game.
Schools
It was a big weekend for two Tipperary schools who were both hoping to claim Munster titles in their respective finals played last Saturday afternoon.
Thurles CBS travelled to Mallow to play the famed St. Flannan’s College, Ennis in the Harty Cup final and after an enthralling game, the Thurles side emerged victorious 1-13 to 0-13.
In the Munster Under 19 ‘B’ Hurling final, High School Clonmel enjoyed a comfortable 2-19 to 2-7 win over Scariff Community College in Ballyagran.
We congratulate both sets of players and their team managements on these outstanding achievements, which are the result of a lot of hard work and sacrifices over the last number of months. Both schools now go on to compete in the All-Ireland competition and we wish them the very best of luck.
Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup
The fixtures for the Electric Ireland Fitzgibbon Cup Quarter-Finals are:
Wednesday, February 5th - DCU v Mary Immaculate College Limerick in DCU @ 8.00pm
Thursday, February 6th - TUS Limerick v MTU Cork in TUS Limerick @ 6.30pm
Scór
Details have been confirmed for the four divisional finals as well as the County Scór Na bPáistí Final. Contact your relevant division for further details and entry forms: Mid Tipperary - Mark Dunne, South Tipperary - Seamus McGrath, West Tipperary - Sean O Maoilrian, North Tipperary - Anthony Floyd.
Tipperary Club Season Pass
The 2025 Tipperary GAA club season pass is now on sale and can be purchased via the events section of the Tipperary GAA App or by contacting the Tipperary GAA office on 0504 22702. The pass which will entitle the holder entry into all adult divisional and county games at adult level will cost €170.
Win a House in Tipperary
Our draw to win a brand-new state of the art home in Cashel continues to gather pace and has seen entries from right across the globe.
To celebrate we are giving away a fabulous bonus prize. Simply purchase a ticket and you’ll be entered into a draw for a chance to win the ultimate Hurling Weekend when Cork take on Tipperary in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on the last weekend in April. Thanks to Maldron Hotels, one lucky winner will receive 4 match tickets, a two-night stay with bed and breakfast, plus one evening meal for 4 at the Maldron Hotel, Cork. The closing date for the bonus draw has been extended for a further week, so make sure to enter.
To purchase your ticket to win a beautiful 4-Bedroom, 3-Bathroom, 121m² state of the art semi-detached home in Cashel, and also be in with the chance of winning our bonus prize for January, go to www.winahouse.ie
Mary’s Meals thanks
The North Tipperary branch of Mary's Meals wish to thank all who supported them at the recent Tipperary v Laois game in Templemore. Your generosity generated €11k which is enough to feed 500 children in school for a year. 100% of your donation goes to Mary's Meals.
Be a Game Changer against Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based violence
One in four women in Ireland has been abused by a current or former partner and 52 per cent of Irish women have reported experiencing sexual violence in their lifetime.
Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based violence (DSGBV) can be a difficult topic to discuss but it’s crucial that we do so openly in this country otherwise those horrible statistics will never change, and it will remain a silent epidemic.
That’s the motivation behind Game Changer, a new partnership between the GAA, Ruhama, and White Ribbon Ireland that’s supported by the LGFA and Camogie Associations, which seeks to raise awareness and action through sport to tackle Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence.
The three-year project is supported by with Governmental funding through Cuan and is designed to deliver on the objectives of the Government’s Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual, and Gender-Based Violence. Game Changer sets out the following goals:
• Challenge the societal culture of sexual violence, including sharing of pornography, intimate image abuse and sexual exploitation.
• Encourage behaviours that support values of gender equality and respect; and build confidence, opportunity and ‘sense of place’ for women and girls.
• Encourage men and boys to engage in active allyship to eradicate gender-based violence in our society.
• Support the challenging and disclosure of abusive behaviours.
• Raise awareness of the harms and consequences of human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
Two of the men stepping into that leadership space are Oisin Gallen (Donegal footballer), and David Fitzgerald (Clare hurler), who, along with Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh (Kerry LGFA), and Amy O Connor (Cork camogie), are the public face of the Game Changers initial awareness campaign, which started on November 25th last to coincide with White Ribbon’s global ‘16 Days of Action’ and ran until mid-January on Gaelic Games own communication and social media channels.
If you’re a parent, then you’ll surely have experienced anxiety about the impact the internet and social media is having on children. Unfettered access to pornography is normalising graphic sexual behaviour and often gives an unrealistic and sometimes twisted view of what sexual relationships should look like.
In recent years there has also been an increasing level misogyny on social media due to high-profile ‘influencers’ spreading a toxic vision of what they believe it is to be a man.
That tap of disinformation is unlikely to be ever turned off, which is why CEO of the Men’s Development Network, Sean Cooke, believes the priority should be to give our young people the tools to critically interpret what they hear or see so they then know what’s acceptable and what isn’t.
The Men’s Development Network is the delivery agent in Ireland of the White Ribbon Campaign, which encourages men to take the pledge to never ‘commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women and gender-based violence’.
Phase 1 of Game Changer featured a Gaelic Games specific campaign that promoted freedom from fear of gender-based harassment and violence for women in society which went out across all Gaelic games communication channels.
Phase 2 will begin this summer and will see the White Ribbon’s Schools Programme translated into a series of accessible introductory e-learning models for GAA clubs that will live on Tobar.
Phase 3 will see the development of face-to-face workshops and will be trialled in a number of clubs recruited through the Irish Life Healthy Club Programme later this year, and Phase Four will see the GAA engage with other sports governing bodies in Ireland to hopefully develop a collective public awareness campaign.
Game Changer coincides with and complements the work of the GAA’s Adult Safeguarding and Culture Review Task Force, to which Sean Cooke also lends his expertise as a volunteer. A motion seeking to enshrine in rule the appropriate parameters of adult safeguarding in the GAA will be voted on at annual Congress in Donegal in February.
The ultimate hope is that the ethos of Game Changer, which is a manifestation of the GAA’s Respect value, will eventually become embedded in every Gaelic games club in Ireland and in doing so will successfully challenge the societal culture of sexual violence in a very real and effective way.
For more information on the Game Changer programme go to: https://learning.gaa.ie/gamechanger