Greening clubs- the role of sport in Ireland's approach to local climate action.

Climate change highlights the importance of an all of society response including bottom-up and community led action. Increasingly, sports clubs have a role to play in engendering local level sustainability. In the Irish context, the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is central to sporting life. It was established in 1884 with the aim of building a sense of Irish identity and community, with which it is now entwined. It promotes the indigenous sports of Ireland, namely handball, camogie, hurling, and Gaelic football. This research outlines the history of the GAA, its role as a local intermediary for climate action, the first two phases of the 'Green Club' community sustainability programme, and plans for government expansion. We develop an intrinsic case study, using exploratory interviews and reliance on secondary sources, with a focus on document analysis in relation to the Green Club programme, to answer the question "how do local sports clubs implement and benefit from a nationally coordinated sustainability programme?". We provide reflections on competitive sporting organisations as a form of intermediary between national objectives and local action. This work contributes to the literature by presenting the case as an example of potential mechanisms for enabling climate action through sports clubs at the collective level.