New scholarship agreement between GPA and ICHAS announced

The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and the Irish College of Humanities and Applied Sciences (ICHAS) are delighted to announce details of a new scholarship agreement between the two organisations.  Two annual scholarships will be made available to eligible inter-county players for an initial 3-year period from the 2022/2023 academic year.

Limerick camogie’s Marian Quaid and Clare football’s Podge Collins were joined by GPA CEO Tom Parsons and Róisín Taaffe and Tony O’Brien from ICHAS at their campus in Limerick to mark the agreement.

Applications, which will open later this year, will be assessed using a set of criteria agreed by the GPA and ICHAS.  The scholarships will be available for any full-time or part-time postgraduate or masters courses available in ICHAS.  Over the course of the partnership six students will benefit from over €43,000 of funding towards their education.

The GPA will actively promote the partnership on an ongoing basis to its members while the successful scholarship candidates will also agree to help promote the scholarship programme and actively contribute to the ICHAS community.

Speaking to mark the announcement, GPA CEO Tom Parsons said; “We are always looking at ways to increase support that we can make available to our student members and are delighted to welcome the Irish College of Humanities and Applied Sciences to our roster of educational partners.  These scholarships will make an invaluable difference to the lives of the successful candidates and on behalf of players I want to say a massive thank you to the ICHAS team.”

On behalf of ICHAS, Tony O’Brien Quality Assurance Manager added; “The College is delighted to be able to support members of the GPA to undertake Higher Education programmes which are validated and awarded by Quality Qualifications Ireland. Irish society is emerging from some challenging times and the work of the GPA in supporting players needs to be publicly acknowledged, so as a College, this is one of our ways of supporting candidates for the scholarships to achieve their potential. We look forward to a continued relationship with the GPA in other ways to support the mental health of players and the wider community in the future, if or when opportunities arise.”

Any GPA members with any queries or questions should contact the GPA’s Education Manager Karen Thorpe at karen@gaelicplayers.com.