Established in 2020, @nagaeilaeracha, the Rainbow Gaels, is Ireland's first explicitly #LGBTQIA+ inclusive GAA club. Karl Shannon is the founder and chairperson. This is his story... "It all started when I put out a tweet. I’m no influencer, I don’t have any kind of mass following. But I said I’d be interested in getting something going for GAA, that would be an explicitly queer-inclusive gathering and the tweet took off. The amount of support I received was so overwhelming, I knew I needed to get something up and running. We now have two teams, GAA (men’s Gaelic football) and LGFA (ladies’ Gaelic football) and over 160 registered members. We don’t currently have a club house, but I dream of it all the time, I can just see it! I definitely think it’s in our future. GAA was very central for me from a young age, and for my family. I think knowing that a club like Na Gaeil Aeracha existed - a club that exists within both of your communities; both within the queer community itself and within the GAA community - would have helped make coming to terms with who I am, and celebrating who I am, a lot easier and a lot faster. I really wanted to give back to the queer community itself, I wanted to create something for us, something that would bring people together. A resource that would make people happy. It’s a great way to meet people and it’s also, a healthy habit to have. You get to make friends who are likeminded, there’s that ease of coming into it, we don’t have to deal with “what if’ scenarios or overthinking, you’re celebrated for who you are. I hate to think that they may never have got involved with the GAA or the LGFA otherwise. Our managers and coaches go above and beyond to make sure everybody feels included, that people don’t feel threatened by more experienced players, that everybody’s being told the basic rules. It’s a very hard balance, but they really are doing a brilliant job. The LGFA are in their second year, and we’ve won three matches so far and, it’s such a phenomenal experience to witness on the side-lines. The light that Na Gaeil Aeracha brings, I really want to spread it across Ireland.”