The Players Voice

Louth captain Sam Mulroy joins The Players Voice to talk about life, leadership and legacy. Sam chats to Alan O’Mara about trying to create meaningful change in Louth, his take on the role of a captain and how growing off the field as a person has helped to make him a better player. He looks back on his struggles to find purpose and direction in life outside of GAA and learn how a life-changing wo...

Welcome to The Players’ Voice - a podcast brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. For the first episode of 2023, our host Alan O’Mara was joined by Tyrone’s All-Ireland winner and All-Star goalkeeper, Niall Morgan. During the conversation, Niall talks about the challenge of juggling family, sport and career commitments. He reflects on the highs of winning...

Welcome to this very special episode of The Players Voice, a podcast brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. 2022 has been an incredible year for The Players Voice and our 20 episodes were streamed all over the world. The Players Voice will be returning in 2023 but before we look forward to next year, we wanted to reflect on some of the best bits so far....

For the twentieth and final episode of The Players Voice series this year we were joined by Limerick’s Barry Hennessy. The multiple All-Ireland winner opens up about his eating disorder and mental health challenges. Barry also reflects on Limerick’s recent dominance of the All-Ireland hurling championship, provides fascinating insights into his relationship with fellow Limerick goalkeeper Nickie Q...

Host Alan O’Mara gets inside the mind of Lee Keegan on this week’s episode. The Mayo legend reflects on his GAA journey to date and explains how becoming a father has widened his perspective in both sport and life. Lee talks about the frustration of appearing in, but not winning any, of his 7 All-Ireland final appearances and chats about his plans for the 2023 season. He discusses the challenges o...

We are delighted to welcome Limerick’s Dan Morrissey onto the podcast this week. Dan chats to our host, Alan O’Mara, about what it has been like to win four of the last five All-Ireland Hurling championships and shares his journey on and off the field. [Text Wrapping Break]He also discusses the role of sports psychology, the importance of belief and confidence and how grateful he is to be part of...

This is the second part of a two part interview with Offaly legend Niall McNamee. Here he opens up about life in recovery from gambling addiction and how he has maintained his well-being since his last bet almost 11 years ago. Niall also discusses how he uses his own struggles to help other people in difficulty and the rise of problem gambling in sport and wider society. In part one of this conver...

On the podcast this week is Niall McNamee, who has been one of the most dangerous and consistent forwards in Gaelic Football since making his Offaly debut in 2003. In part one of this two-part interview, Niall reflects on his sporting career to date, why he came out of retirement after one season away from the inter-county game and whether he plans to keep playing at the top level in 2023. Niall a...

Ashling Thompson was a key figure on the Cork camogie team that won four All-Ireland’s in the last decade and she also lifted the O’Duffy Cup as captain in 2015. She explains why she is still so driven to return Cork back to the promised land after back to back All-Ireland final defeats and describes the pain she has been feeling since the final whistle went in this year’s championship decider. As...

Our host, Alan O’Mara, is joined this week by Tipperary’s Aishling Moloney. Since breaking on to the inter-county scene in 2017, Aishling has become one of the most feared forwards in gaelic football. She was a key player on the Tipperary ladies’ football team that won 2 Intermediate All-Ireland titles and was voted Player of the Year in 2019. Unfortunately the 2022 season played out without Molon...

Our host Alan O’Mara is joined this week by Cork’s Patrick Horgan. 2022 was a year to remember for the 34-year-old, as he became the top scorer of all-time in the hurling championship and a dad for the first time. Horgan explains why he is determined to continue playing for Cork next season. He also discusses how the game still finds new ways to challenge him after 15 campaigns at the elite level,...

Conor McDonald’s rise to the top level of inter-county hurling was meteoric. In 2013, when most people his age were worried about the leaving cert, Conor was already living his dream having played for the Wexford minors, u21s and then the senior team in the space of a few short weeks. He was just 17 when he made his senior debut. He won three Leinster u21 titles in a row and helped Wexford win the...

Vikki Wall speaks about how her life has changed since she became an All-Ireland champion and how adaptability, trust and vulnerability were at the heart of Meath’s success. She also discusses the verbal abuse she has received over the years, her search for sport/life balance, and how much she is looking forward to becoming a professional athlete later this year in the Australian Football League....

Our host Alan O’Mara is joined on the podcast this week by Lisa O’Rourke. On May 19, O’Rourke captured the hearts of the nation when she picked up the gold medal in the light middleweight division at the World Boxing Championships in Turkey. This was the 20 year old’s first ever appearance at the world championships but she is anything but an overnight success. Earlier this year she also won at th...

We were joined this week by Colm Begley of Laois, who officially announced his retirement from the inter-county game. Colm made his senior debut in 2005 but life soon took him in a very different direction. That direction was Down Under, when he secured a professional contract with Australian Football League team Brisbane Lions. Colm’s rise through the ranks of a new sport was remarkable and he wa...

We are joined this week by Aisling Maher. Aisling is a respected leader on the Dublin camogie team, an All-Star, an artist, a member of the GPA’s LGBTQ+ working group and the co-founder and CEO of Mooze Vegan. She talks about the importance of living an authentic life, her experience coming out to family, friends and teammates and her passion to drive equality, diversity and inclusivity. She also...

We are joined this week by former Wicklow footballer and managing director of Nutriquick, Dean Siney, who recently made a €9 million business deal with Aldi. Dean talks to our host Alan O’Mara about the entrepreneurial journey that stemmed from an idea in his head. Dean began operating from his home kitchen and eventually became a leading brand for healthy, convenient food. They now employ more th...

Welcome to The Players’ Voice - a podcast brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. We are joined this week by Neil McManus, who at 33 years of age has more than 100 inter-county appearances for Antrim under his belt. He opens up about his love for hurling and Cushendall and, thanks to the longevity of his playing career, the joy he now gets from hurling wi...

We are joined on The Players’ Voice podcast by Conn Kilpatrick, an All-Ireland winning midfielder with Tyrone in 2021, who opens up in great detail about his gambling addiction. He talks about the web of lies he spun to hide his secret, the ups and downs of recovery, bouncing back from a relapse and repairing damaged relationships with family and friends. This is a powerful listen full of honesty,...

Our host Alan O’Mara, is joined this week by Louise Galvin. From Finuge in Co. Kerry, our guest is a trailblazer who has played both international basketball and rugby for Ireland as well as inter-county football. She discusses the many highs and important life lessons learned on her unique journey and offers fascinating insights into imposter syndrome, growth mindset, leadership and the importanc...

This week our host Alan O’Mara is joined by Kate Keaney, who was called up to the Donegal seniors at 15 years of age after experiencing All-Ireland minor success and then became a key leader in successful senior teams. In 2022, a new adventure across the Atlantic awaits, where Kate will be working as a sports scientist with the USA’s international soccer teams. We discuss her excitement for this i...

In this episode, Chloe Morey and Séadna Morey join the Players’ Voice. Cousins born ten days apart, they grew up together in Clare and broke through to the senior hurling and camogie teams as teenagers respectively. They discuss the pros and cons of reaching the pinnacle of the game at such a young age, the challenge of finding balance in their adult lives and why they both took a break from the i...

The Players’ Voice is a podcast brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. Hosted by former Cavan goalkeeper Alan O’Mara, each episode takes you inside the minds of inspiring inter-county GAA players as they talk about life on and off the field. The series starts with former Mayo footballer and current CEO of the Gaelic Players Association, Tom Parsons. He d...

Ahead of World Mental Health Day on Sunday, the GPA have partnered with SilverCloud to offer members a new online support platform to help them look after their mental health. To mark the new service The Players’ Voice speaks to Tyrone’s All-Ireland winner Conor Meyler and from SilverCloud Dr. Derek Richards.

Down footballer Kevin McKernan shares his story about a recent health scare with The Players’ Voice.