Sinéad Aherne

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Dublin
• Club: St. Sylvester’s
• Advocacy Focus: Equal Resources and Player Representation

Sinéad Aherne is one of the most decorated and influential forwards in the entire history of Ladies’ Gaelic Football. Breaking into the Dublin senior inter-county team in 2003 at seventeen, she became the top scorer during Dublin’s historic first All-Ireland Senior Championship success in 2010. Later, she captained her county to a legendary four-in-a-row milestone between 2017 and 2020, alongside a National Football League title. Across more than two decades competing at the absolute highest tier of ladies GAA, she amassed seven All-Star awards and cemented her enduring legacy.

In addition to this, Aherne has consistently utilised her prominent public platform to highlight structural inequalities within female Gaelic games. In 2020, she spoke about the total absence of individual travel expenses for female inter-county players, noting how prevailing funding models unfairly left athletes out of pocket.

She continues to campaign heavily for genuine media parity, arguing that the women’s championship deserves prime-time television exposure. Her ongoing advocacy focuses on establishing player representation at the institutional level, ensuring that future generations enter an equitable sporting environment backed by a single, integrated governing body.

Gemma Begley

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Tyrone
• Club: An Chárraig Mhór
• Advocacy Focus: Integration and Equal Resources

Gemma Begley enjoyed a genuinely distinguished inter-county football career with Tyrone, spearheading the northern county’s attacking unit through highly competitive Ulster provincial campaigns and national championship drives for over a decade. She became an incredibly influential figure within Ulster football circles and a rallying point for her teammates. Upon stepping away from the playing arena, she immediately applied her firsthand understanding of the amateur sporting landscape to vital administrative and advocacy roles, determined to significantly improve baseline playing conditions across Ireland.

Her vital post-playing involvement continues through her influential executive seat on the Women’s Gaelic Players Association, where she helps direct national policy. Similarly to Ahearn, in 2020, Begley highlighted critical survey data revealing that a mere seven per cent of female players received any form of travel expenses, leaving many students and working athletes financially compromised just to represent their home counties.

Niamh Collins

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Dublin
• Club: Foxrock-Cabinteely
• Advocacy Focus: Equal Commercial Recognition, Women’s Sport Exposure

Niamh Collins first debuted for the Dublin senior squad in 2012, quickly developing into a defensive lynchpin of a historic and unprecedented inter-county era. Over more than a decade, she secured an incredible four All-Ireland Senior Championship titles, six Leinster provincial crowns, a National League medal, and a well-deserved All-Star award. A highly skilled data analyst by profession, she has spoken extensively in corporate settings about the rigorous personal discipline, time management, and mental resilience required to balance elite amateur commitments with demanding corporate careers.

Collins lends her voice and profile to major social equality campaigns, featuring prominently in high-profile corporate initiatives like AIG’s impactful #EffortIsEqual campaign and the highly successful national 20×20 movement. Her vocal advocacy continually emphasises the urgent need for equal commercial recognition, media visibility, and guaranteed facility access for female squads at local and national levels. She uses her platform to promote safety, respect, and active allyship, driving systemic institutional change so clubs provide safe environments nationwide and ensuring future generations enter an equitable sporting landscape backed by a single, integrated governing body.

Maria Curley

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Tipperary
• Club: Templemore
• Advocacy Focus: LGBTQ+ Visibility, Rural Allyship

Maria Curley made her senior competitive debut for Tipperary in 2014, as a corner-back and half-back for well over a decade. Her exceptional consistency and reading of the game helped Tipperary capture historic All-Ireland Intermediate titles and crucial Munster provincial honours, establishing her as a core captain and leader within the senior squad. Outside of her demanding sporting life, she completed a Master’s degree in Physiotherapy at University College Cork, balancing her intensive healthcare profession with the demands of ladies’ Gaelic football.

In her local community and across the national sporting network, Curley stands as an incredibly active and progressive voice for LGBTQ+ visibility, specifically addressing the unique cultural challenges faced by queer individuals living in rural Ireland. She featured prominently on the Tipperary Pride panel discussion to explore rural inclusion, visibility, and the broader acceptance of LGBTQ+ athletes within traditional Gaelic games circles. Officially named as a proud ambassador for the joint GAA, LGFA, and Camogie Association Pride initiative, she continuously campaigns to challenge outdated dressing-room taboos, eliminate casual homophobia, and ensure that local clubs serve as safe spaces.

Dr. Orlagh Farmer

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Cork
• Club: Midleton
• Advocacy Focus: Teenage Dropout Rates, Grassroots Retention

Orlagh Farmer famously declined a highly lucrative athletics scholarship in the United States to fully commit herself to Cork Ladies’ Gaelic football, subsequently winning an incredible six All-Ireland Senior Championship titles during a glittering, dominant decade with the Rebelettes. A regular fixture through numerous successful National League Division One campaigns, she simultaneously pursued high-level academic excellence, earning a PhD in sports studies from University College Cork. This highly specialised educational background uniquely positioned her to bridge the massive gap between academic theory, physiological research, and practical grassroots sporting development for young female athletes across the entire country.

Her pioneering doctoral research, which centred heavily on the LGFA’s “Gaelic4Girls” initiative, thoroughly investigated the troubling reasons why nearly half of all young girls completely drop out of organised sport by the age of twelve. She concluded through her data that personal enjoyment, social connection, and positive coaching methods are far more effective long-term motivators for retention than intense, win-at-all-costs competitive pressure.

As the passionate founder of EmpowerEd Coaching, Farmer actively applies her scientific findings by creating specialised physical education programmes, workshops, and coaching resources explicitly designed to keep adolescent girls active, confident, and engaged throughout their teenage years.

Anna Geary

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Cork
• Club: Milford
• Advocacy Focus: Body Image, Girls in Sport, and Maternal Mental Health

Anna Geary is one of the most recognisable figures in modern camogie, famously captaining Cork to All-Ireland and capturing four national titles, four All-Star awards, and three historic All-Ireland club championships with Milford. Known throughout her playing days for her fierce competitive intensity, elite athleticism, and sharp tactical leadership, she shocked the sporting world by retiring from the inter-county setup in 2015 at the age of twenty-seven, choosing to redirect her considerable energy toward media broadcasting, public speaking engagements, corporate wellness training, and high-impact national athletic advocacy across Ireland.

Her extensive media platform focuses heavily on the unique, often toxic social pressures directly impacting young women in modern society. Geary fronted the prominent, widely acclaimed RTÉ documentary Why Girls Quit Sport, directly confronting how body image concerns, puberty, and social media scrutiny drastically accelerate adolescent dropout rates in local clubs.

Jennifer Higgins

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Roscommon
• Club: Clann na nGael
• Advocacy Focus: Player Representation, Structural Parity

Jenny Higgins is an enduring icon of Roscommon football, making her senior debut in 2010 and eventually surpassing the exceptionally rare milestone of over 100 (going on to amass 130) senior appearances for her county. The tireless midfield engine captained the county’s All-Ireland Minor victory back in 2009 and consistently kept Roscommon highly competitive at national league levels through her unmatched work ethic and leadership. Her phenomenal athletic excellence eventually earned international recognition, culminating in a professional sports contract in Australia to play Australian Rules Football for the iconic Sydney Swans in the highly competitive and physically demanding AFLW competition.

As a primary school teacher, Higgins utilises her educational background to mentor and inspire younger players coming through the regional development ranks. She has served extensively on the LGFA’s National Development Committee and acts as an official, highly visible ambassador for flagship participation initiatives including Gaelic4Girls and Lidl’s widespread Serious Support programme.

Aoife Lane

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Galway
• Club: Ballinderreen
• Advocacy Focus: Gender Equity, Player Welfare

Aoife Lane represented her home club Ballinderreen and competed at the highly competitive college level with both the University of Limerick and NUI Galway before transitioning fully into sports administration and academia. She carved out a highly respected, pioneering academic career, ultimately becoming the Head of the Department of Sport and Health Science at TUS. Her extensive published research focuses primarily on physical activity patterns, community wellbeing, and utilising local sports environments to drive impactful public health promotion across diverse demographics, establishing her as a leading national authority on athletic health policies.

Lane translated her vast academic expertise directly into practical athletic advocacy by chairing the Women’s Gaelic Players Association and serving on vital national health steering committees. In 2021, she led a landmark, comprehensive study of female athletes that exposed severe, systemic structural inequalities, highlighting inadequate facility access, poor medical cover, and massive funding shortfalls compared to male counterparts.

Aisling Maher

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Dublin
• Club: St. Vincent’s
• Advocacy Focus: LGBTQ+ Visibility, Integration, Dress-Code Autonomy

Aisling Maher has represented St. Vincent’s and Dublin since early childhood, making her senior inter-county debut at just seventeen and earning a Camogie All-Star award in 2017 while simultaneously studying medicinal chemistry at Trinity College Dublin. She has captained Dublin through major competitive transitions, leading the senior squad to crucial league titles and a historic All-Ireland quarter-final appearance. Outside of her sporting commitments, she is an entrepreneur, co-founding the plant-based nutrition company Mooze alongside fellow inter-county athletes, showcasing incredible dedication to both business and elite sports leagues across the country.

Maher’s leadership extends deeply into player governance as a prominent, highly vocal co-chair of the Gaelic Players Association. She emerged as a leading national voice during the high-profile, player-led skorts protests, campaigning passionately for the choice to wear athletic shorts to ensure player comfort, performance efficiency, and modern dress-code autonomy.

Fiona McHale

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Mayo
• Club: Carnacon
• Advocacy Focus: Player Welfare, Structural Inequality, and Gender Equity

Fiona McHale has enjoyed a stellar, inter-county playing career spanning nearly two decades, firmly establishing herself as one of Mayo’s most durable and iconic midfielders. Known throughout the country for her exceptional work rate, physical conditioning, and tactical intelligence, she guided Mayo to multiple All-Ireland Senior Finals and claimed a well-deserved All-Star award in 2017. At club level with the powerhouse Carnacon, she secured numerous County, Connacht, and All-Ireland Senior Club Championship titles, cementing her status as an elite competitor who possesses an unmatched baseline of physical endurance and tactical awareness.

In the realm of sports administration and public discourse, McHale is a prominent, fearless advocate for gender equity, consistently challenging institutional disparities within traditional Gaelic games. Leveraging her dual platform as an elite sportswoman and a highly qualified academic, she speaks out regarding the logistical, financial, and medical inequalities that female squads routinely face compared to male teams. She actively champions GPA campaigns demanding standardised medical backup and equitable travel expenses, driving the national movement toward the total integration of the GAA, LGFA, and Camogie Association into one unified sports entity.

Chloe Morey

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Clare
• Club: Sixmilebridge
• Advocacy Focus: Dress-Code Autonomy, Body Image, and Youth Confidence

Chloe Morey compiled an outstanding inter-county camogie career spanning fifteen highly competitive years, famously debuting for the Clare senior team at the age of just fifteen. She helped the Banner county secure the 2008 All-Ireland Premier Junior title and later captained the senior squad to memorable Munster championship success, earning an All-Star award at wing-back in 2013. An inspirational figure for her local club Sixmilebridge, she successfully balanced her elite sports career with her chosen professions as a secondary schoolteacher and a highly successful regional fitness entrepreneur.

Morey is a has used her platform in player-led movements targeting systemic change, particularly regarding youth body confidence and dress-code autonomy for young women. She was at the forefront of the national campaign advocating for the Camogie Association to permanently overturn its mandatory skorts rule in favour of comfortable, modern athletic shorts. Morey speaks openly about how archaic uniform rules breed unnecessary self-consciousness in adolescent girls, and she actively utilises her regional youth fitness camps to dismantle toxic aesthetic standards and build unwavering personal confidence in young female players across the nation.

Shona Morrison

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Kilkenny
• Club: Dicksboro
• Advocacy Focus: Player Welfare, Dress-Code Autonomy, and Structural Equality

Shona Morrison built an immensely successful camogie career characterised for the Kilkenny senior team. Known across the country for her tight marking, physical resilience, and composure under intense pressure, she anchored the black-and-amber backline against the country’s best forwards. Her consistency translated into immense success with her club, Dicksboro, driving the senior squad to multiple All-Ireland titles

Morrison gained widespread national recognition for directly challenging the traditional, institutional dress codes enforced by the Camogie Association. She was a central, leading figure in the famous player-led protest during the Leinster Championship, where Kilkenny and Dublin players bravely refused to wear mandated skorts during a live match. Despite threats of official match abandonment and administrative sanctions, Morrison and her peers used the platform to highlight the discomfort and anxiety caused by outdated uniform rules, successfully forcing an emergency Special Congress that secured optional shorts, completely transforming the sport’s modern dress code regulations forever.

Valerie Mulcahy

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Cork
• Club: Rockbán
• Advocacy Focus: Marriage Equality, LGBTQ+ Visibility, and Breaking Dressing-Room Taboos

Valerie Mulcahy is one of the most naturally gifted, clinical, and iconic forwards in the history of Ladies’ Gaelic Football. Representing Cork, she captured an astonishing ten All-Ireland Senior Championship medals, ten National League titles, and six prestigious All-Star awards. Renowned for her lethal accuracy, she scored the vital winning points in multiple tight national finals at Croke Park, forever cementing her sporting legacy as one of the greatest big-game players to ever play the sport in Ireland.

In January 2015, Mulcahy made history by becoming the first high-profile, active elite female Gaelic player to come out publicly, fundamentally shifting the landscape of LGBTQ+ visibility in Irish sport. She immediately became a prominent, powerful ambassador for the Yes Equality campaign ahead of the historic Marriage Equality referendum, speaking openly about the crushing psychological burden of hiding her true identity in the traditional dressing room environment. Her brave advocacy shattered deep-rooted taboos, creating a visible, supportive pathway for future generations of queer athletes across all sporting codes throughout the entire nation.

Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Kerry
• Club: Corca Dhuibhne
• Advocacy Focus: Mental Fortitude, Rural Sport Access and  Local Mentorship

Louise Ní Mhuircheartaigh is an icon of modern Gaelic Football. In her inter-county tenure with Kerry that spanned over fifteen elite seasons. Collecting five prestigious All-Star awards and was named TG4 Senior Players’ Player of the Year in 2023. In 2024, she captained Kerry to an All-Ireland Senior Championship, ending a painful thirty-one-year title famine for the Kingdom.

A primary school teacher immersed in the Irish language, Ní Mhuircheartaigh channels her considerable public platform directly into grassroots advocacy, focusing heavily on enhancing rural sports access and structural funding for remote communities. She speaks with immense candour regarding the psychological barriers, self-doubt, and profound emotional resilience required to rebound from consecutive All-Ireland final defeats before finally achieving ultimate victory. As a visible mentor, she actively campaigns for equal facility infrastructure across rural clubs, ensuring young girls growing up outside major urban hubs have an equitable pathway to elite athletic development throughout their youth.

Emma O’Byrne

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Dublin
• Club: Good Counsel / Liffey Gaels
• Advocacy Focus: Female Health Conditions (PCOS), Body Image, and Dress-Code Autonomy

Emma O’Byrne has firmly established herself as a central pillar of the Dublin senior camogie team over an inter-county career now spanning nearly a decade. Operating as an attack-minded wing-back, her superb tactical awareness guided Dublin to multiple All-Ireland semi-finals, earning her an All-Star nomination in 2024 alongside Dublin Player of the Year honours. Appointed as county vice-captain, her fierce leadership on the pitch is perfectly mirrored by her deep grassroots commitment to her local club, where she actively mentors younger players and works to improve training facilities for female teams.

O’Byrne actively utilises her national platform to spearhead crucial, overdue conversations surrounding Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and its direct impact on elite female athletic performance. By publicly sharing her personal struggles with chronic pain, hormonal imbalances, and ruptured ovarian cysts, she campaigns to normalise gynaecological health discussions in amateur sport. She actively challenges management frameworks to better understand female-specific medical needs, while simultaneously speaking out against toxic body-image standards, under-fuelling, and mandatory skorts in favour of athletic shorts, ensuring that player health always comes first during intensive national training campaigns.

Amy O’Connor

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Cork
• Club: St. Vincent’s
• Advocacy Focus: Public Safety for Women, Gender-Based Violence Awareness, and Inner-City Inclusion

Amy O’Connor is one of the most prolific, explosive, and clinical forwards in modern camogie history, securing six All-Ireland medals and four All-Star awards with Cork. She famously captained her county to a resounding victory in the 2023 All-Ireland final, firing a legendary, unprecedented three-minute hat-trick to claim the Player of the Match award. A qualified pharmacist by profession, she remains a talismanic, highly respected leader for both her county and her home club, St. Vincent’s, balancing her demanding medical career with the rigorous daily training regimes required at the absolute highest level.

O’Connor utilises her substantial sporting platform to spearhead critical social campaigns, serving as a prominent national ambassador for the “Game Changer” initiative against domestic, sexual, and gender-based violence. She lobbies extensively for zero-tolerance environments against street harassment, misogyny, and safety threats facing women daily. Fiercely proud of her working-class roots, O’Connor also campaigns against the socio-economic barriers that prevent inner-city youth from accessing elite sport, ensuring local clubs function as highly inclusive, well-resourced, and safe community environments that provide equal opportunities for every single young person regardless of background.

Nicole Owens

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football
• County: Dublin
• Club: St. Jude’s
• Advocacy Focus: Mental Health Recovery, Clinical Depression Awareness, and LGBTQ+ Inclusion

Nicole Owens has built a highly decorated, inspiring inter-county career. Debuting for Dublin in 2012 she helped secure five All-Ireland Senior Championship titles, including the famous four-in-a-row milestone era. A TG4 All-Star recipient, she has repeatedly demonstrated immense physical and mental resilience, overcoming multiple devastating, long-term knee injuries to return to the absolute highest competitive tier, establishing herself as a true symbol of perseverance and dedication within Gaelic games circles throughout the capital.

Owens is a remarkably candid, brave advocate for mental health recovery, speaking openly about her personal battles with severe clinical depression, panic attacks, and chronic anxiety during her playing career. By detailing her journey through professional therapy, she campaigns extensively to normalise emotional vulnerability and actively encourage young athletes to seek support without any fear of shame. As an openly gay athlete, she also works alongside player organisations to foster inclusive team cultures and challenge casual homophobia, ensuring dressing rooms are safe, welcoming spaces for players of all orientations and backgrounds.

Lindsay Peat

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football (and Multi-Sport)
• County: Dublin
• Club: Parnells
• Advocacy Focus: LGBTQ+ Rights, Neurodiversity, and Elite Equality

Lindsay Peat has represented her country and county across multiple entirely distinct disciplines. In Gaelic football, she won an All-Ireland senior medal with Dublin in 2010. Beyond the LGFA, she captained the Irish international basketball team and earned thirty-one caps for the Ireland Women’s National Rugby team, winning a Six Nations title and establishing herself as an elite multi-sport icon who broke down barriers regarding what female athletes could achieve across completely different codes at international levels.

Peat is a fierce champion for LGBTQ+ rights and neurodiversity, frequently using her prominent public media platform to foster broader social understanding and structural change. She speaks openly about her family dynamic, challenging institutional barriers to ensure sports environments are fully inclusive of diverse family structures. Peat has also spoken with immense candour regarding her late-diagnosed dyslexia and ADHD, articulating the complex challenges of navigating elite sport as a neurodivergent individual to campaign for better youth support, specialised coaching methods, and increased educational funding within local grassroots community sports clubs.

Niamh Rockett

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Waterford
• Club: St. Anne’s
• Advocacy Focus: Arthritis Awareness in Youth, Disability Inclusion, and GPA Equality

Niamh Rockett forged an incredible career for Waterford, anchoring the senior camogie team, earning a prestigious, historic All-Star award for her county. Her remarkable longevity on the pitch and leadership as county captain made her an absolute icon of determination and resilience for the Déise. She successfully balanced this elite sporting tenure with her club commitments at St. Anne’s and her professional career as a secondary schoolteacher, proving that passion and hard work can overcome even the most daunting personal challenges.

Rockett’s passionate advocacy is deeply rooted in her personal, ongoing battle with chronic illness and physical adversity. Diagnosed with severe, degenerative arthritis at age sixteen following multiple complex knee surgeries, she famously defied medical predictions that suggested she would require a wheelchair by age thirty. As an ambassador for Arthritis Ireland’s “Don’t Give Up” campaign, she raises vital awareness for youth living with chronic joint conditions, while working through the GPA to lobby for enhanced injury-prevention standards, robust medical assistance, and equal support systems for amateur female athletes.

Sarah Rowe

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football (and Multi-Sport)
• County: Mayo
• Club: Kilmoremoy
• Advocacy Focus: Mental Fitness, Body Image, and the Dual-Career Athlete Experience

Sarah Rowe is a prominent, globally recognised multi-sport athlete, starting as an elite inter-county footballer for Mayo beore turning to professional sports abroad. Debuting for the Mayo senior squad in 2012, her remarkable agility and pace guided the county to the 2017 All-Ireland Final. Her exceptional athleticism allowed her to represent the Republic of Ireland in senior international soccer before transitioning to Australian Rules Football, where she has excelled as a professional player for Collingwood since 2018, showcasing an incredibly rare capacity to adapt seamlessly to vastly different elite sporting environments across the globe.

Rowe utilises her global sporting experience to champion vital, progressive conversations around mental fitness and body image for young women. She speaks openly about the immense psychological pressures of elite performance, public media scrutiny, and the vulnerability required to navigate long-distance career transitions between different hemispheres. Rowe campaigns to promote healthy relationships with food, actively challenging toxic aesthetic standards and emphasising body functionality over traditional beauty ideals to inspire young female athletes to prioritise their holistic well-being, mental health, and physical development above arbitrary societal expectations or social media trends.

Cora Staunton

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football (and Multi-Sport)
• County: Mayo
• Club: Carnacon
• Advocacy Focus: Equal Standing, Professional Integrity, Mental Toughness

Cora Staunton redefined forward play across an unprecedented twenty-five-year inter-county tenure with Mayo. Debuting at just thirteen, she powered Mayo to four All-Ireland Senior Championships, amassed an astonishing eleven All-Star awards, and made history by scoring over sixty points in a single championship season. Her incredible multi-sport saw her move to international sports, becoming the first international recruit in the Australian AFLW, starring brilliantly for Greater Western Sydney over several highly competitive seasons abroad.

Off the pitch, Staunton has consistently deployed her legendary status to challenge institutional inequalities and advocate for the absolute professionalisation of player welfare standards. She has written and spoken extensively about the stark double standards in media coverage, commercial sponsorship, and medical backing provided to female athletes compared to men’s sports. Her vocal advocacy champions deep structural reforms within sporting associations, and she routinely utilises her extensive coaching career to instil mental toughness, uncompromising self-belief, and equal standard expectations in young female players across the nation, demanding full equality.

Ashling Thompson

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Cork
• Club: Milford
• Advocacy Focus: Mental Health Openness, Overcoming Adversity, Female Empowerment

Ashling Thompson captained her county to successive All-Ireland Senior Championships, amassed multiple All-Star awards, and led her home club Milford to three historic All-Ireland Senior Club titles through her unparalleled physical presence. Known for her immense athleticism and tactical discipline, she remains an absolutely pivotal figure and emotional heartbeat within elite Irish sports circles, inspiring teammates and fans alike with her intense playing style.

Thompson is a uniquely powerful national advocate for mental health awareness, famously using her prominent profile to break deeply entrenched stigmas regarding depression and emotional vulnerability. She has spoken with profound, raw honesty about her personal struggles following a severe car accident, using her journey through recovery to inspire struggling youth. Her advocacy focuses heavily on female empowerment, challenging traditional gender expectations in sports media, and encouraging young girls to fully embrace their physical strength, competitive aggression, and authentic identity on and off the pitch without ever feeling the need to conform.

Laura Twomey

• Sport: Camogie
• County: Dublin
• Club: Naomh Mearnóg
• Advocacy Focus: Participation Retention, Injury Recovery Visibility, Academic Integration

Laura Twomey compiled an incredible inter-county camogie career spanning well over a decade, famously serving as the inspirational joint captain of the Dublin senior team. She anchored the Dublin backline against the country’s most elite attacking setups. A highly qualified academic, she earned a PhD in cardiovascular health from DCU and currently serves as a specialised sports management lecturer at TU Dublin, blending elite athletic insight with rigorous research to improve national sporting structures.

Twomey has translated her elite sporting experience and deep scientific background directly into high-impact national advocacy, featuring prominently as an official ambassador for Ireland’s prominent 20×20 initiative for women’s sports. She campaigns extensively to dismantle the psychological hurdles and isolation associated with severe long-term athletic injuries, openly sharing her gruelling journey back from a torn cruciate ligament. Her structured advocacy focuses on utilising academic data to redesign local training models, ensuring youth participation numbers remain robust while establishing advanced physical education frameworks to keep teenage girls actively retained in competitive sport setups.

Hannah Tyrrell

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football (and Multi-Sport)
• County: Dublin
• Club: Na Fianna
• Advocacy Focus: Mental Health Survival, Self-Harm Awareness, Eating Disorder Recovery

Hannah Tyrrell has achieved an extraordinarily versatile, multi-sport career, culminating in her starring role as the forward who powered Dublin to the 2023 All-Ireland Senior Championship title. Before dominating the LGFA landscape, she spent seven highly successful years as an elite international rugby star, earning over twenty caps for Ireland and securing a historic Women’s Six Nations Championship. Her phenomenal sporting journey began as an elite soccer goalkeeper, showcasing her rare, elite athletic adaptability across completely diverse sporting codes and proving her status as one of Ireland’s greatest all-round modern athletes.

Tyrrell is one of the most remarkably brave, impactful mental health advocates in Ireland, speaking with stunning transparency about her intense, youthful battles with severe clinical depression, self-harm, and eating disorders. By sharing her deeply personal survival journey in public forums and schools, she campaigns tirelessly to eliminate the crushing shame often associated with psychiatric illnesses. Tyrrell works closely with various mental health charities and player groups to establish comprehensive, early-intervention support networks, emphasising that emotional vulnerability is a profound strength that saves lives when shared openly with compassion and understanding.

Vikki Wall

• Sport: Ladies’ Gaelic Football (and Multi-Sport)
• County: Meath
• Club: St. Peter’s Dunboyne
• Advocacy Focus: Gender Equality, Elite Player Welfare Standards, and Combating Body-Shaming

Vikki Wall spearheaded Meath’s historic rise to successive senior titles. Her performances earned her back-to-back National Players’ Player of the Year awards across intermediate and senior grades, prompting professional recruitment abroad to play Australian Rules Football for North Melbourne. Her rare, world-class athletic versatility was further highlighted when she signed with the IRFU to compete internationally for the Ireland Women’s National Rugby Sevens team, demonstrating an elite baseline of power and adaptability.

Wall is an incredibly powerful voice against cyberbullying and verbal harassment, speaking out forcefully after a post-match interview regarding online abuse went widely viral across national media. Her targeted advocacy campaigns to protect amateur athletes from toxic online discourse, while continuously pushing for commercial parity and equal sponsorship opportunities for female sports stars. Wall utilises her extensive multi-code experiences across the LGFA, AFLW, and rugby to lobby for specialised, professional-grade coaching and athletic development resources for young girls across Ireland, helping them navigate elite pressures with confidence.