GAA clubs to start banning vaping on club grounds

Several GAA clubs across the country are banning e-cigarettes on their grounds as concerns grow over how harmful they can be.

St Nicholas' GFC club in Drogheda and St Fechin's GAA in Termonfeckin are the latest clubs to ban vaping on the sidelines of pitches and everywhere else on the grounds.

Signs forbidding smoking and the use of vapes have been erected in both clubs, following a directive from GAA headquarters to all branches in Ireland which states,

"The GAA's smoke and vape free club policy, supported by Healthy Ireland and the HSE, aims to help clubs create smoke-free environments in their facilities and therefore creating a safer environment for everyone involved

"Its goal to raise awareness about the harms of smoking and vaping, especially to young people and to reduce initiation rates. The policy also recognises that second-hand smoke is harmful for health, in particular to the health of children.

"To date, about 350 clubs have adopted the non-smoking policy since its introduction in 2017 and it was updated in 2021 to include e-cigarettes."

PRO Michelle Mooney from St Fechin's says the club has over 900 members, 400 of whom are under 18, said,

"We have erected a new signage recently to ban vaping at our club. Smoking has been prohibited since 2017 and there is generally a full compliance rate on that one.

"We have hundreds of children here and we have to lead by example. We are already a member of the GAA's healthy club initiative and vaping is being hailed now as not being healthy.

"This is a place for activity and exercise anyway and anything that is seen to impair the respiratory system or show a bad example to children has to be taken in hand.

"Already, there has been a huge positive reaction to this from adults at the club and I'd say 95% of times, you wouldn't see vaping on the sidelines anyway. But this ban is to reinforce that and send a clear message out that we are a club that promotes health and we show a responsibility to our youth.

"The GAA season is winding up now but the signage is now in place and we will continue to create awareness of the ban next season."