'The GAA’s mantra is where we all belong - setting up this club shows that that’s true'

Karl Shannon is chairman of Na Gaeil Aeracha, Ireland’s first explicitly LGBTQ inclusive GAA club. 

Rainbow coloured laces are seen on the boots of Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea during the All-Ireland SFC semi-final against Tipperary in 2020. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

Last weekend Ballymun Kickhams took on Na Gaeil Aeracha in the outer reaches of the Dublin GAA galaxy.

The exact grade needn’t detain us unduly. The game was remarkable because it was the first competitive fixture for “Ireland’s first explicitly LGBTQ inclusive GAA team”, to use their own term.