GAA stars lend a hand to promote sport and plant trees in Uganda

Mairead Cogan, Sligo; former Galway dual GAA player and founder of Warriors for Humanity and Plant the Planet Alan Kerins; world handball champion Martin Mulkerrins from Galway; musician Ollie Fahy; Galway ladies footballer Aoife Ní Cheallaigh; Limerick All-Ireland medal winner David Reidy, and Ronan Scully, Self Help Africa during a visit to Uganda by 30 inter-county players as part of the Plant the Planet project. 

A 30-strong group of intercounty GAA stars have traded their local playing pitches for new ground in Uganda, helping to plant a million trees as part of an initiative to combat climate change.

The players lining out include Limerick’s five-time All-Ireland winner David Reidy, Cork camogie All-Star Saoirse McCarthy, Galway goalkeeper Connor Gleeson, and Mayo’s James Carr.

They travelled to Uganda as part of the ambitious Plant the Planet project, a partnership between Self Help Africa, the Gaelic Players Association, and Warriors for Humanity.

Members of the Simba Wolfhounds GAA Club from Jinja, eastern Uganda, enjoying a handball match during the official opening of the country’s first every handball alley. 

Led by former Galway dual star Alan Kerins, Plant the Planet has seen 160 GAA players raise €1.7m and plant 3m trees across Africa since it first started four years ago. Another million trees will be planted in the coming weeks. This year, for the first time, the project has branched out from Kenya into Uganda.

The group was welcomed by Mags Gaynor, Irish ambassador in Kampala, where they played an exhibition match against Africa’s first officially registered GAA club Simba Wolfhounds.

Kerins said it is an “amazing legacy for the players to leave behind”.

“The trees we are helping plant have different purposes here, and the communities and the families who we plant with will own them and receive training and support to live off them,” he added.

Former World handball champion, Martin Mulkerrins, Galway, meeting youngsters in Jinja in eastern Uganda at the opening of the country’s first handball alley. 

“Thousands of families will live off these trees long after this trip is over and we’re all gone. To be on the banks of the Nile, planting trees with local communities, was a surreal moment.”

The Irish players, together with handball stars Martin Mulkerrins and Eilish Owens, were also present for the opening of Uganda’s first one-wall handball alley.

Brother Colm O’Connell — the Kenyan-based Irish missionary widely known as the godfather of Kenyan running for coaching multiple Olympic champions — was also there and cut the ribbon on the new facility. The alley was built by Simba Wolfhounds and marks the first phase of a major community sport and cultural hub the club is developing.

Founded by Galway native John Walsh, Simba Wolfhounds now works with more than 1,000 children across Jinja, introducing them to Gaelic football, hurling, camogie, and handball.

Simba Wolfhounds is Uganda’s first officially registered GAA club. The handball alley was opened during a visit by 30 top inter-county GAA players.

Each GAA player raised €10,000 and more before taking part in the week-long trip.

Self Help Africa’s acting CEO Martha Hourican said the Plant the Planet trips to Africa are an incredible initiative and had allowed the GAA community to make a lasting contribution to efforts to combat climate change on the continent.

“This is an inspirational campaign,” she said. 

“Daily, we see that communities who are least responsible for the harmful effects of changing climate, including droughts, floods, and the emergence of new crop diseases, are experiencing some of its worst effects. 

"These communities are on the frontline of climate change, and large-scale tree-planting efforts — which remove harmful greenhouse gases from the atmosphere — together with the introduction of resilient crop varieties and ‘climate smart’ farming practices are key to tackling this challenge in the years to come.”