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New Legion diversity officer Joanne aims to create safe space for all

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3 years ago

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Legion player James O'Donoghue with Joanne O'Riordan at Legion GAA grounds in 2015. Photo: Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile.

by Adam Moynihan

The Killarney Legion’s new Diversity and Inclusion Officer Joanne O’Riordan has set her sights on creating a safe space for everyone who wants to join the club, including wheelchair users, asylum seekers and members of the LGBT community.

O’Riordan, a 26-year-old journalist from County Cork, is a wheelchair user herself and is widely know in Irish sporting circles for her work as an inclusivity advocate.

As well as writing for the Irish Times, she also presents A Sporting Chance, an RTÉ documentary exploring women’s sport in Ireland.

She was given a lifetime membership of the Legion in 2014 after a chance meeting with club legend and Radio Kerry broadcaster Weeshie Fogarty.

Speaking to the Killarney Advertiser this week, O’Riordan said she is “delighted” to be taking up this new position with her adoptive club.

“For me, what it’s about is trying to get more people involved in Legion GAA, and it’s not just people in wheelchairs,” she revealed. “It’s about creating a safe space for LGBT players, refugees, asylum seekers, a whole spectrum of people.

“We’re very fortunate [in the media] that we get to meet an incredible amount of people who do incredible work every day, so I don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I just have to reach out to these people and hope that they can share their expertise and their experiences. Maybe I can rob some of their ideas!”

Club chairman David Randles says that Joanne will be "an extremely valuable addition to our team and her life experiences will benefit our club no end".

Although O’Riordan believes that progress has been made in recent years when it comes to inclusivity in the GAA, she still feels there is room for improvement.

“I think the GAA are trying but where they fall down is they literally have one person for this entire job on a national level. That’s very hard for one person to do. I think we fall down there in that regard.

“These messages like ‘give respect, get respect’ and ‘say no to racism’ get lost. They’re all just taglines that have no real back-up.

“My niece plays U12 with our local club, Dromtariffe, and she doesn’t see any differences [in people]. It’s actually when she goes outside the pitch and she listens to adults talking, she learns that differences do exist and she starts picking up casual remarks. I think that’s really unfortunate.

“It’s about tackling people’s perceptions really, and that’s a very hard thing to do. When you go to a GAA match you don’t expect to hear a racist or homophobic comment on the sideline… It’s really hard to tell someone that they have an unconscious bias because people don’t like to hear it. They like to believe that they think everybody is equal. It’s about raising awareness from that perspective.

“I think having a safe space to call it out is important too.”

As for her relationship with the Legion, O’Riordan fondly recalls being welcomed into the club seven years ago.

“I was honoured to be interviewed by Weeshie at a golf event in Killarney. That was insane for me. He asked me would I mind coming to Legion for their annual awards ceremony. Then he presented me with lifetime membership, which I didn’t expect.

“I think me and my father bonded with the club more than anything. We liked the players and they were incredibly sound. They had a good run in 2015, reaching the county final.”

The team’s fortunes have been mixed since: they won the East Kerry Championship in 2019 before getting relegated from senior in 2021. On Sunday they face An Ghaeltacht in the semi-final of the Intermediate Championship. O’Riordan is optimistic.

“As dad says, you’ve got to have a lot of downs to have a lot of ups, so hopefully this year we’ll have another ‘up’.”

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Home cup tie for St Paul’s could be epic

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2 months ago

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7 November 2025

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Paudie O’Connor National Cup (Round 1)

Utility Trust St Paul’s v GCU Brunell

Saturday 7.30pm

Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre

The St Paul’s women’s team will be hoping to get their National Cup adventure off the ground on Saturday when they welcome 2024 champions Brunell to Killarney. Tip-off in the Killarney Sports and Leisure Centre is at 7.30pm.

Paul’s have displayed some fine early season form, although their unbeaten start in the Super League came to an abrupt end last weekend when they lost to the Trinity Meteors in Dublin. James Fleming’s side weren’t at their best on the day but they were well in contention heading into the final quarter with the scores at 47-45 in favour of the hosts. The Meteors pushed on in the fourth, however, eventually running out 63-53 winners.

St Paul’s scorers on the night were Maisie Burnham (13), Tara Cousins (12), Lorraine Scanlon (12), Lovisa Hevinder (9), Denise Dunlea (5) and Leah McMahon (2).

The Killarney club are now joint second in the table alongside the Meteors with both teams holding a 4-1 record. Killester are top having won each of their first five games.

Paul’s opponents on Saturday, Brunell, have won three out of five league matches so far.

LAKERS

The Utility Trust St Paul’s Lakers have now won three of their last four games in Division 1 of the Men’s National League following an impressive home victory over Moycullen in Killarney.

Eoin Carroll and Jack O’Sullivan made significant contributions of the Boys in Black; Carroll hit 17 points and collected 13 rebounds while O’Sullivan had 14 points, 12 rebounds and some spectacular blocks.

Steve Kelly posted 30 points and the durable Sam Grant played every second, adding 21 points along the way.

The Lakers started well before the visitors found their footing and the sides went in level at the half-time break after scores by home captain Carroll. There was still nothing to separate the teams entering the fourth quarter (68-65) but buckets by Carroll, Pablo Murcia and Grant opened up a nine-point lead. Moycullen fought back admirably, however, cutting the deficit to just four, but Luke O’Hea’s charges held firm to prevail by eight (88-80).

Next up is a cup tie against the Tipperary Talons, a side they defeated by 30 points just a couple of weeks ago. The cup can be very different to the league, though, and they will need another solid performance to advance to the next round. Tip-off in in Killenaule is at 6.30pm on Saturday.

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Chances of Kerry v Cork Munster final in 2026 decrease as Munster GAA delay seeding plan

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2 months ago

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7 November 2025

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After facing a backlash from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipperary players, Munster GAA have postponed their plan to keep Cork and Kerry separate in the 2026 Munster Football Championship.

The new seeding system – which gives the two highest ranked Munster teams in the National League byes to separate semi-finals – will now come into play in 2027, twelve months later than initially planned.

This will give Clare and Limerick a chance to earn promotion to Division 2 of the league, potentially overtaking Cork if the Rebels were to get relegated to Division 3.

Despite traditionally being the two main contenders for Munster football honours, Kerry and Cork haven’t met in a provincial decider since 2021. The Kingdom have won each of the finals since then (one versus Limerick and three versus Clare) by an average margin of 15.75 points.

More high-profile Kerry v Cork finals might be desirable for fans of those teams, businesses in Killarney and Cork, and neutrals alike but Munster GAA’s plans to effectively keep the great rivals on opposite sides of the draw understandably drew criticism from the other participating counties. A statement by the GPA confirmed that players from Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipp had met via Zoom to discuss the matter. They were said to be “deeply disappointed and concerned” by the decision.

The 12-month delay will at least give two of those disaffected teams an opportunity to benefit from the new seeding process.

The draw for the 2026 Munster Football Championship will take place on November 27 under the old rules. As 2025 finalists, Kerry and Clare will get byes to the last four (but they will not necessarily be kept apart).

Nine members of Kerry’s squad are up for All-Stars at tonight’s awards ceremony in Dublin with Joe O’Connor and David Clifford also in contention for the prestigious Footballer of the Year award.

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