Scholarship opportunities for Inter County Players have doubled over the 10 years of partnership between GPA and DCU.

Great news for players as the GPA and DCU enhance their scholarship partnership with additional opportunities now available to intercounty players

The Gaelic Players Association (GPA) and Dublin City University (DCU) have further enhanced the educational support available for current and former inter-county players with today’s announcement of an extended scholarship agreement between the two organisations

Following the merger of the GPA and the Women’s Gaelic layers Association (WGPA) in late 2020, the GPA and DCU have now merged and enhanced existing agreements. It means that 10 Post Graduate Masters enhanced scholarships and 2 Executive MBA Scholarships are now available to male and female members of the GPA.

From the 2021/2022 academic year players who have been accepted onto DCU Post Graduate programmes will be able to apply for these scholarships. All prospective scholarship candidates must apply through the normal academic procedure to the DCU programmes. The Scholarship candidates will in parallel apply to the GPA for the enhanced scholarship. Eligible candidates will be nominated by the GPA and the names communicated in writing to DCU who will select the successful applicants.

Speaking on the announcement, Ciarán Barr, GPA Head of Operations and Finance said; “We are delighted to extend our Post Graduate scholarship partnership with DCU and are thrilled to strengthen the long-standing partnership that we have built with the college over the years. The ethos of the GPA is all about people and potential. In a fundamental way the GPA’s goals and aspirations match those of DCU – to be a development partner of its students.

DCU President, Prof Daire Keogh said; “DCU has a long record of promoting sporting excellence, particularly in Gaelic Games. This year, we are delighted to build on our partnership with the GPA, by offering scholarships to twelve talented students, on a gender equal basis. I want to wish them every success, as they pursue their academic and sporting ambitions.”

DCU Business School Executive Dean, Professor Colm O’Gorman said; “We are delighted at DCU Business School to continue to build on our 10 years of partnership with the GPA. The recipients over the years have been a great addition to our MBA Programme and to our Full-time Masters Programmes. We look forward to building on the success and heritage of the DCU GPA Scholarships and to welcoming more scholars to our Programmes in the coming years”

Paul O’Brien, DCU Head of Gaelic Games added; “We are delighted to further extend our post graduate scholarship programme with the GPA to offer support to Gaelic players across all four codes. We are proud to support inter-county players as they strive to excel in their academic and sporting lives.”

The closing date for scholarship applications is 1^st July 2021. GPA members who are interested in applying for these scholarships can contact Karen Thorpe, GPA Education Manager at karen@gaelicplayers.com for further information.

DCU are also hosting a Postgrad Open Day on 17th June. Upskill, pivot or start a new career with a Postgrad at @DCU. Register today: dcu.ie/postgradopenday

The GPA and DCU have a long-standing scholarship partnership with this being the 11^th year of the agreement between the two bodies.

Scholarship opportunities for Inter County Players have doubled over the 10 years of partnership between GPA and DCU.