Hello and welcome to OUTINIRELAND!
OUTINIRELAND was conceived as a network to bring together GLBT people together around a particular sporting interest or activity.
The idea was conceived by Frank Kelly who set up OUT4TENNIS, a network of GLBT tennis players from around Ireland that come together on a regular basis for tournaments and ‘meets’. From OUT4TENNIS, it became apparent that there were many tennis players with other sports and interests. So, for example, Carmel is a social tennis player from Dublin who also plays golf and enjoys an occasional hike. James from Cork competed in many triathlons and is now taking up tennis again. Noel from Dublin is not only a keen tennis player and also plays soccer and golf. Grainne is a social squash player and also a 10k runner. Paul in Belfast is a social tennis player and a keen squash player as well as an occasional soccer player. And there are many more examples……………
OUTINRELAND not only seeks not network the ‘sporty’ types. So, for example, Joe from Dublin is a keen squash play though also is a keen bridge player. Likewise, Michael from Waterford plays social tennis and is learning bridge. And maybe we have a few snooker players out there too or a few chess players too……..
Some Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What are the current networks?
A. Currently there are three networks: OUT4TENNIS, IN4SQUASH and OUTROWERS.
Q. What plans are there for future networks
A. We will look at the feasibility of setting up other networks once we have a critical number of people interested in a particular sport or activity in a particular area. So, for example, when we have a group of hockey players, we’ll see about doing Hockey 7s, likewise for Gaelic or other team sport.
Q. Why Register?
A. By registering with OUTINRELAND, we can pull together people with similar interests and see about the feasibility of organising an event. As a minimum, we need to know your first name, your e-mail and your contact number to verify your registration.
Q. How much does it cost?
A. Membership of OUTINIRELAND is complimentary. Where we organise an event, then, there is an entry fee to cover the costs of the event and costs of running the network.
Q. What about my privacy?
A. When setting up OUTINIRELAND, we asked people about having ‘public’ profiles. Many people prefer to keep their profiles private and we respect that. So when your register, your details will be kept private and not shared with anyone else without your prior consent in line with ‘Data Protection’ best practice. See Privacy Statement for a full statement on our policy.
Q. What's the difference between these networks and other gay sports clubs?
A. Many of our members continue as members of their own sports clubs around Ireland. The concept of a network is that it brings people together on a regular basis for events and socials. If you live in Belfast, Dublin or Cork, there are already an increasing number of GLBT sports clubs – see the Links page to see if your sport or activity is already catered by an existing club.