Trip to Tipperary for young Palestine hurlers is more than about sport

Palestine GAA members Stephen Redmnond (left) and Denis Grace (right) with the Palestine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Husam S. Zomlot at a support for Palestine march

placeholder image — Palestine GAA members Stephen Redmnond (left) and Denis Grace (right) with the Palestine Ambassador to the United Kingdom Husam S. Zomlot at a support for Palestine march

Palestine GAA to make landmark trip to Tipperary

One of the organisers of a trip to Tipperary next month planned for young hurlers from Palestine, Denis Grace, said that the tour for these young boys was about more than sport.

Over thirty boys and fourteen mentors will arrive in Tipperary on July 18 where they will start a tour of the country. While in Tipperary they will play a hurling blitz, visit Semple Stadium and tour the Rock of Cashel.

“It is a cultural and humanitarian journey. Many of the children have lived through the trauma of conflict and displacement. Their visit to Ireland offers a rare moment of freedom, a chance to heal, to play and to feel supported by a wider community.

“This tour will show that these children are not forgotten, and that they are part of something bigger, a global GAA family,” said Denis Grace who works as a teacher and psychotherapist in London,” he said.

Denis said that like a lot of Irish people living in London, he understood the oppression Ireland was subjected to and he remembers as a nine and ten-year-old boy people in London describing Irish people as pigs.

He said the dehumanisation of Irish people at the time was now happening to the people of Palestine and he decided to get involved to help out communities there.

“I could see strong similarities between Ireland and Palestine concerning oppression and colonisation. We were brought up in one of the poorest housing estates in London and there was a lot of anti-Irish sentiment about,” said Denis whose mother came from Killross and his father was from Kerry.

STRONG BOND

A friend of Denis living in Tipperary and who is involved in the Tipperary leg of the trip said the young hurlers from Palestine were sure to get a very warm welcome in Tipperary.

“I've known Denis for 40 years since we were students together and became firm friends. Through his life he has been a human dynamo of care and compassion to help the vulnerable, downtrodden and disenfranchised. This tour for the kids from Palestine - giving them a break from fear and hostility, including a very warm Tipperary and GAA welcome- is just another example of what has driven him for years. To form such a strong bond between Palestine and Ireland through the wonderful sport of hurling is an incredible achievement,” said Martin O’Connor.