The GAA has entered into a new partnership with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution which runs the lifeboat service around Ireland as well as Britain.
The purpose is to reduce the number of people who lose their lives though drowning in Ireland. Each year an average of 28 people drown accidentally around the Irish coast.
The RNLI aims to halve coastal drowning by 2024 and the GAA will work with the charity to engage with clubs and communities, particularly on the coast, to provide information and support that could save lives.
Read more about the GAA Healthy Club Initiative
It will be part of the GAA Healthy Clubs Initiative and another major step in placing the GAA’s national network of over 2,0000 clubs firmly front of mind when it comes to public service.
333 clubs are within a 10km radius of the 46 RNLI lifeboat stations in Ireland.
Through the partnership the RNLI invited the GAA to their training college in Poole and to Portsmouth University, to meet cold water shock expert Professor Mike Tipton. Four GAA players; Jackie Tyrell from Kilkenny, Lyndsey Davey from Dublin, Neil McManus from Antrim and Lee Chin from Wexford experienced what it was like to be plunged into cold water and see the effects of it on the body.
Capturing the journey provides us with a valuable insight, presented by Micheál O’Muircheartaigh…
