The Players Voice

Meath’s Cillian O’Sullivan joined The Players Voice for an insightful and inspiring conversation about being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Late in 2023 Cillian’s world was turned upside down on his honeymoon when his condition deteriorated. He talks us through some of the challenges he has had to overcome on this journey and how he bounced back to represent Meath within a matter of months. A clinical psychologist by profession, he also shares fascinating insight into his mindset and coping mechanisms during difficult times.

The Players Voice podcast is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. Each episode is hosted by former Cavan player and New York manager Alan O’Mara, who works as a Mental Performance Coach in elite sports in the US.

The GPA is the representative body for high performance inter-county players. Founded by players in 1999 and strengthened by a merger with the Women’s Gaelic Players Association in 2020, the GPA supports over 4,000 current male and female inter-county players, and a growing number of former players across four core pillars - Player Representation, Player Welfare, Player Development and Equality. You can learn more about their work at gaelicplayers.com.

If you enjoyed this episode of The Players Voice, you can listen to previous episodes with the likes of Conn Kilpatrick, Amy O’Connor, Mary Hulgraine or Ciarán Kilkenny. Please also rate and review the show. Thanks for listening!

All-Ireland winner and All-Star Conor Whelan joins us for a special episode of The Players Voice on World Mental Health Day.

Fresh from a Masters in Psychology, and currently doing a PHD on the Mental Health of GAA inter-county players, Conor offers fascinating insight into some of the challenges facing modern day players.

In a wide-ranging conversation about mental health and wellbeing, the Galway hurler also talks about athletic identity, challenging himself to grow as a person, changing careers and the importance of volunteering.

The Players Voice podcast is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. Each episode is hosted by former Cavan player and New York manager Alan O’Mara, who works as a Mental Performance Coach in elite sports in the US.

The GPA is the representative body for high performance inter-county players. Founded by players in 1999 and strengthened by a merger with the Women’s Gaelic Players Association in 2020, the GPA supports over 4,000 current male and female inter-county players, and a growing number of former players across four core pillars - Player Representation, Player Welfare, Player Development and Equality. You can learn more about their work at gaelicplayers.com.

If you enjoyed this episode of The Players Voice, you can listen to previous episodes with the likes of Conn Kilpatrick, Amy O’Connor, Mary Hulgraine or Ciarán Kilkenny. Please also rate and review the show. Thanks for listening!

On this week’s episode of The Players Voice, host Alan O’Mara is joined by Tipperary’s Maria Curley.

An experienced leader on and off the field, Curley discusses why she is as determined as ever to keep driving standards for female GAA players. She also talks about becoming an entrepreneur and shares how her physiotherapy practice has positively impacted the community through over 65 exercise classes.

The Players Voice podcast is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. Each episode is hosted by former Cavan player and New York manager Alan O’Mara, who now works as a Mental Performance Coach in elite sports in the US.

The GPA is the representative body for high performance inter-county players. Founded by players in 1999 and strengthened by a merger with the Women’s Gaelic Players Association in 2020, the GPA supports over 4,000 current male and female inter-county players, and a growing number of former players across four core pillars - Player Representation, Player Welfare, Player Development and Equality. You can learn more about their work at gaelicplayers.com.

If you enjoyed this episode of The Players Voice, you can listen to previous episodes with the likes of Niall Morgan, Lauren Magee, Chloe Morey or Neil McManus. Please also rate and review the show. Thanks for listening!

On this week’s episode of The Players Voice, host Alan O’Mara is joined by Kildare’s Grace Clifford. Grace talked about the decline and rise of Kildare during her career, and why she keeps coming back for more! She also chatted about the importance of players speaking up to create lasting change, empowering young girls in sport and life, and her excitement for the future of the game.

The Players Voice podcast is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. Each episode is hosted by former Cavan player Alan O’Mara, who now works as a Mental Performance Coach in elite sports in the US.

The GPA is the representative body for high performance inter-county players. Founded by players in 1999 and strengthened by a merger with the Women’s Gaelic Players Association in 2020, the GPA supports over 4,000 current male and female inter-county players, and a growing number of former players across four core pillars - Player Representation, Player Welfare, Player Development and Equality. You can learn more about their work at gaelicplayers.com.

If you enjoyed this episode of The Players Voice, you can listen to previous episodes with the likes of Niall Morgan, Lauren Magee, Chloe Morey or Neil McManus. Please also rate and review the show. Thanks for listening!

Mickey Quinn reflects on his decision to retire from inter-county football after 13 seasons and why now was the right time to transition out of the game.

In a wide-ranging chat with the former Longford stalwart and AFL player, we looked back on lessons learned from his life in elite sport and discussed some of the highs and frustrations he experienced. We also chatted about his motivation for setting up Mickey Quinn Performance and how he plans to help individuals and teams improve going forward.

The Players Voice podcast is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks.  Each episode is hosted by Alan O’Mara, a former Cavan player and New York manager, who now works as a mental performance coach with elite sports teams.

The GPA is the representative body for high performance inter-county players. Founded by players in 1999 and strengthened by a merger with the Women’s Gaelic Players Association in 2020, the GPA supports over 4,000 current male and female inter-county players, and a growing number of former players across four core pillars - Player Representation, Player Welfare, Player Development and Equality. You can learn more about their work at gaelicplayers.com.

If you enjoyed this episode of The Players Voice, you can listen to previous episodes with the likes of Niall Morgan, Lauren Magee, Chloe Morey or Neil McManus. Please also rate and review the show. Thanks for listening!

The latest episode of The Players’ Voice features Derry’s Conor Glass.

During this conversation, Conor reflects on lessons he learned from his experience as a professional athlete in the AFL. He talks about how working with a sports psychologist helped improve both his performances and wellbeing.

The Glen clubman also discusses how Derry have rebuilt confidence and a winning mentality in recent years, how much he loves being part of his home community again and the challenge of balancing life as a cafe owner, student, and inter-county footballer.

The Players Voice podcast is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. Thanks for listening!

The latest episode of The Players Voice features Cork’s Amy O’Connor.

Fresh from captaining the Rebel county to the All-Ireland title and winning an All-Star, Amy sat down to reflect on a memorable year and some of the lessons learned along the way.

She talked about what it was like to score 3-7 in the 2023 All-Ireland final, including a hat-trick within two minutes. Incredibly, as you will hear, she was so in the zone during the game that she didn’t realize she had scored three goals until after the final whistle!

Amy discussed how much the GPA Jim Madden leadership programme impacted her professional development and helped her become a better and more authentic captain. She also chatted about her underage international soccer career and why her deep love for Camogie meant that it was always going to be the sport for her!

The Players Voice podcast is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks.  Enjoy!

The latest episode features former Galway player Alan Kerins.

Back in 2001, Alan Kerins had the rare experience of playing in both the All-Ireland football and hurling finals but since then his impact has stretched far beyond the playing field. Through his charity work, Alan has raised millions of euro that has saved and changed thousands of lives in Africa.

During this conversation, Alan tells us about the upcoming ‘Plant the Planet Games’ which will see 50 inter-county players travel to Kenya to play in an exhibition game and plant trees to help tackle the devastating effects of climate change. This is the second year of the Plant the Planet Games and last year a group of footballers, hurlers and camogie players helped to raise over €500,000 and plant one million trees in the region in partnership with Self Help Africa. He also talked about leadership and legacy.

Each episode is hosted by Alan O’Mara, a former Cavan goalkeeper who now works as a Performance and Wellbeing consultant with sports and business leaders around the world. Check out www.RealTalks.ie to learn more about Alan and his work.

Thanks for listening!

The latest episode of The Players Voice features Dublin’s Ciarán Kilkenny.

The Castleknock clubman talks about life as a teacher, setting up a Yoga business and the importance of trying new things. He chats about his search for sport/life balance and lessons learned from pushing himself too hard.

Ciarán also looks back on the high of recapturing the Sam Maguire this year and opens up on the mental and emotional challenges that came with being out of the starting team for some big championship games.

The Players’ Voice is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. The podcast series is part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

Each episode is hosted by Alan O’Mara, a former Cavan goalkeeper who now works as a Performance and Wellbeing consultant with sports and business leaders around the world. Check out www.RealTalks.ie.

The latest episode of The Players Voice features Dublin’s Lauren Magee.

During this conversation, Lauren explains why Dublin's All-Ireland victory in 2023 was the sweetest of them all. She discussed how much she benefited as a person from taking a break to go traveling and what she learned from her experience in the AFLW. Lauren also opens up about losing her step-dad to suicide and her journey with grief.

If you are a GPA member in the Republic of Ireland and are in need of mental health support, call 1800 98 92 85 or text ‘GPA’ to 50808. From Northern Ireland, please call 0800 044 5059 or text ‘GPA’ 85258.

If you aren’t a GPA member and need mental health support, please check out the Samaritans or Pieta House.

The Players’ Voice is brought to you by the Gaelic Players Association in collaboration with Real Talks. The podcast series is part of BEO 360, a GPA programme that empowers inter-county players across 4 key areas - life skills, wellbeing, dual career and transitions. Please go to beo360.gaelicplayers.com to learn more.

Each episode is hosted by Alan O’Mara, a former Cavan goalkeeper who now works as a Performance and Wellbeing consultant. To find out more about his work with sports and business leaders around the world, please go to www.RealTalks.ie.