Getting Set Up as a Coach or Volunteer
VOLUNTEERS – GET YOURSELF SET UP!
GET SORTED WITH FOIREANN, TOBAR (GAA LEARNING),VETTING, SAFEGUARDING…
https://www.gaa.ie/the-gaa/child-safeguarding-and-protection/vetting
Introduction
Any volunteer in the GAA intending to work with children, must have completed the below relevant requirements, before commencing any role.
This is in line with the GAA Code of Behaviour (Underage) and with the Law and Association policy.
Volunteers include coaches, mentors, supervisors, coaching assistants, female liaison officers, appropriate club committee members & volunteers, facility staff and those organising underage activities (including camps, trips & social events) or refereeing underage games.
You will need to get set up with access to:
- Access to the Foireann website (handles your personal information and your vetting, safeguarding and courses information)
- Access to Tobar (GAA Learning) website (access to loads of coaching resources as well as enrolment on courses)
Through these you will need to:
- Be Garda vetted through the Foireann website (Valid for 3 Years) (Everyone)
- Attend a child safeguarding course (Valid for 3 Years) (Everyone)
- Complete the Introduction to Gaelic Games coaching course (Coaches only)
Getting Set Up
Logging in to Foireann
Log into your account on Foireann or create an account on Foireann www.foireann.ie
If you don’t have a Foireann account you can find instructions on how to get set up here.
Logging in to Tobar (GAA Learning)
Log into your account on Tobar or create an account on Tobar https://learning.gaa.ie/
If you don’t have a Tobar account you can find instructions on how to get set up here.
Linking your Tobar account to your Foireann account
This only takes a moment and is well worth doing as it will keep a record of all your courses.
You can sync your Tobar account with your Foireann account. To do this, click on the green button on the top of the page in Tobar "Foireann Connect". We advise having your Tobar and Foireann accounts both open at the time - it seems to work better!
If this button is not visible, then the accounts are already synchronised.
You can see in Foireann that your Tobar account is linked -that will be under your Profile and Qualifications and Vetting tab.
Qualifications are displayed in the Profile section of Foireann under "Qualifications & Vetting".
If there is no information in here and you expect to see something, you can seek assistance at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Meeting Your Requirements
SAFEGUARDING COURSES
Safeguarding courses will be organised by the club throughout the year as required and coaching staff and relevant personnel will be kept informed. You can also find details of nearby courses on Tobar.
Anyone working around children in a Gaelic Games setting must complete a Child Safeguarding course every 3 years.
The Child Safeguarding 1 online Refresher Course launched in September 2019 allows coaches and other volunteers who have already attended a full face to face Safeguarding 1 session in the past 3 years to refresh the course online. It is also important to note that one cannot complete 2 online refresher courses in succession - a refresher course MUST be followed by a full workshop if one is to maintain their cover. It is an interactive eLearning course split into 6 separate modules.
COACHING COURSES
GAA Introduction to Gaelic Games Foundation courses will be organised in Celbridge and/or across Kildare each year.
The course is aimed at beginner coaches from across the Gaelic games codes of Hurling, Camogie, Gaelic Football and Ladies Gaelic Football. It is a requirement for coaches.
The ICGG Award course has been designed to support new coaches develop a solid foundation of knowledge, skills, competencies, and values for coaching the child, youth or adult playing population.
Click Here for more information on the course
VETTING
THE REST OF THIS DOCUMENT DEALS WITH THE VETTING PROCESS
How to apply for Garda Vetting
It is a legal requirement that Garda Vetting must be obtained before taking up any of the above roles and training courses must be in place before taking up a role working with children at the club. As defined in the Code of Behaviour (Underage) and the Children First Act (2015), a child is any person under the age of 18 years. This includes children under the age of 18 years who may play on minor or senior teams. If you have been Garda vetted for any other position outside of the GAA it is not valid for the purpose of the above roles and you must apply for specific Garda vetting for the GAA as per below
As of April 4th, 2022, all Garda Vetting applications must now be done through the GAA Foireann platform.
You will find further information and details as well as the latest process on the GAA website at https://www.gaa.ie/the-gaa/child-safeguarding-and-protection/vetting
To complete the Garda vetting process, please follow the following steps:
*It is recommended to use the Chrome browser on your laptop/desktop
How to apply for Vetting in the Gaelic Games Association
Step 1 Logging in to Foireann
Log into your account on Foireann or create an account on Foireann www.foireann.ie (SEE ABOVE)
Step 2 Gaelic Games Vetting Invitation Form
Once logged into your account on Foireann please go to Profile and click on the Qualifications and Vetting tab.
Then click Apply to be Vetted.
Please ensure your current details on your profile are correct - and most importantly, your date of birth.
Please then select your Club and or Association you wish to be vetted for and the role you are being vetted for (e.g. Coaching / mentoring children under the age of 18yrs).
Upload a copy or screenshot of your Photo ID (passport or drivers’ licence) and a proof of your current address in the form of a Utility Bill (no more than 6 months old). You are also required to print and sign the Gaelic Game Vetting ID Validation Form and upload this a part of your vetting application. You must include all 4 pages of the Validation form ticking the boxes of the documentation you are including ( adding up to 100)
When you have uploaded the correct documents, and submitted your application, the Club Children’s Officer will then check your ID Documentation and your signed Gaelic Games Vetting ID Validation Form. If the documents are correct your application will be validated by the Club Children’s Officer and submitted to the GAA. If the documents are not correct the Club Children’s Officer will reject your application and you will be required to upload the correct documentation.
Step 3 Completing the National Vetting Bureau (NVB) EVetting Application form
Once you complete the Gaelic Games Invitation Form the information provided is forwarded to the NVB by the GAA. The NVB will issue you with the online NVB Vetting Application form. This will be issued to the email address you provided in your Gaelic Games Invitation Form. Completing this form is a confidential matter between you and the NVB. The form MUST be completed in 30 days.
All sections of the form including current and previous addresses, email address and contact telephone numbers, information on convictions and prosecutions (if any), plus other information will be required when completing the form. Once all sections of the form have been answered this then completes your application process for EVetting in the GAA and within a short period of time you shall be contacted by the GAA to informing you as to the outcome of the vetting application and approved vetting information will be attached to your Foireann profile
Vetting of applicants under 18 yrs. of age
GAA vetting services are available to any person over 16 yrs. of age and under 18 yrs. of age who fulfil a role of responsibility when working with children or vulnerable adults in the GAA. A parental consent form (NVB Parent/Guardian Consent Form) must be completed for applicants between 16 and 18 yrs. of age and the form must be uploaded and forwarded to the GAA as part of the application process. The applicant must also use the email address of the parent/guardian when making the application
WHAT DOCUMENTS DO I NEED TO UPLOAD FOR MY VETTING APPLICATION:
To submit your vetting application you need to upload three different documents:
- ID Validation Form which is attached to this email. This form must be downloaded, filled out and re-uploaded to your vetting application under the section 'ID VALIDATION FORM'
- Identification Document. This must be a Passport, Driver's License i.e any photographic document. This must be uploaded under the section 'SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS'
- Proof of Address. This must be separate from your Driver's License and must have your name and address clearly stated. This can be a bank statement, utility bill etc. This must be uploaded under the section 'SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS'
If you are submitting an application on behalf of a child then there is an additional 'Parental Consent Form' which is required to be uploaded.
Important things to note regarding these documents.
- Documents must be less than 5MB, in colour and visibly clear.
- If you are having issues with the sizes of your documents, then please use one of the compression websites to reduce the size of your files.
I HAVE UPLOADED MY DOCUMENTS BUT CAN NOT SUBMIT THE VETTING APPLICATION:
Please note that if you have uploaded all of the relevant documentation, then it's likely that you haven't uploaded the documents in the correct sections or have not uploaded enough documents to proceed with the application.
Please note that there should be a minimum of three documents uploaded to an application
- The ID Validation Form (See attached) is listed under the ID Validation Form section
- ID Document listed under the Supporting Documents section.
- Proof of Address is under the Support Documents section.
If you have uploaded both of your supporting documents within the same file then you need to split these out into two separate uploads.
I AM UNABLE TO UPLOAD DOCUMENTS FOR MY VETTING APPLICATION:
If you are unable to upload your vetting documents, can you please try the following:
- If using a mobile phone, can you attempt to upload the documents via a Laptop/Tablet device?
- If you are getting an error message and cannot access the vetting application, can you please clear your cache on the device you are using?
If you have tried all of the above and are still unable to upload your documents for your vetting application then please reply back to this email with the relevant documents i.e ID Validation Form, ID and Proof of Address. Once this is sent through a member of our support team can upload the documents on your behalf. You can then review the documents and once happy submit your vetting application form.
I HAVE SUBMITTED MY VETTING APPLICATION BUT HAVEN'T HEARD BACK / WANT TO KNOW THE STATUS OF MY APPLICATION.
If you have not yet heard back in regards to your vetting application then it's advised that you contact your club's children officer to make sure they have received and validated the application. If they have, then you will need to contact the Associations as outlined below for information on your application.
Camogie This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
GAA This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
LGFA This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
MY VETTING APPLICATION KEEPS BEING REJECTED - WHY?
When an application is rejected, you should be informed in the email as to why it was rejected. Please contact your club's children's officer and/or the National Children's Officer for further information:
Camogie This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
GAA This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
LGFA This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
MY VETTING APPLICATION IS NOT LISTED IN MY PROFILE - WHY?
In November 2022, a project was undertaken to match those that were previously vetted from January 2020 up to April 2022 to the Gaelic Games' new vetting system on Foireann. In order to ensure that each Association matched the correct vetting with the correct individual on Foireann a number of key identifiers were used. These were:
- Name
- DOB
- Current address
- Email address
- Club
Each of the Gaelic Games Associations had to ensure that the legacy vetting information was accurate to update a member’s vetting record on Foireann. If the individual had no account on Foireann, the individual could also not be matched.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to match every previous vetting applicant that was vetted via the previous vetting system from January 2020 to April 2022 onto Foireann. This is for various reasons such as the applicant used a different email, a different address or an incorrect DOB on the old system or these details have since changed on their current Foireann profile.
Therefore, your previous application within the last three years could not be matched on Foireann. The Club now requests you to re-apply to be vetted on Foireann and this will attach all your vetting status to your profile on Foireann and also trigger expiry notifications etc.This will also allow the club keep accurate records as required by our the relevant governing bodies
You can contact your Association for further information on to discuss this further:
Camogie This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
GAA This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
LGFA This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
I CAN NOT APPLY FOR VETTING FOR MY CHILD:
If your child is under the age of 18, then the parent/guardian must submit the application on their behalf. The main profile on Foireann must be in the parent/guardian's name and the child must be added via the family section. If you do not believe your family is set up correctly, please contact your club and an administrator should be able to help you sort this out. If not, please let our support team know and we can fix your family setup.
Once added to your family, if you navigate to the Family section, click Edit beside their profile then click on the Qualifications & Vetting tab, you should be able to submit an application on their behalf. For more information on this, please see the following help guide: Submitting an application for yourself or on behalf of a child
If your child is over the age of 18, then they must submit an application via their own Foireann profile. This cannot be done by the parent/guardian. The best thing to do here is to ask your club administrator to invite your child (18 +) to create their own Foireann profile, once they have logged in, they can follow the steps in the link above to submit their own application.
Common issues with vetting applications:
Below is a list of some of the common issues members face when submitting vetting applications:
Not uploading all three of the required documents (photo ID, proof of address, and completed signed vetting ID verification form) - the application will be rejected
Not adding a date of birth to your Foireann profile - this will block the vetting page from being shown in Foireann
Not updating date of birth on Foireann profile - if the Foireann DOB does not match the DOB on photo IDs, the application is rejected
Not completing the NVB EVetting Form - Once the email from the NVB has been received, there is a time limit of 30 days to complete this after which the application will be cancelled and must be restarted
Not including a proof of address - the requirements are outlined in the links above, but please not that a drivers lisence is not accepted as proof of address. The application will be rejected if not valid proof of address wihtin the last 6 months is provided.
Not able to access Foireann account - please contact the Children's Officer if you are struggling to reset your password or access your Foireann Account
Not receiving e-mail reminders - check your span/junk folders and add This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to your 'safe senders' list. E-mail reminders will also come from Foireann (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).
Not being familiar with vetting and safeguarding requirements - check out the vetting and child welfare pages on the GAA website.
If all else fails - contact the Children's Officer who is here to help
Childrens Officer: Penny Quinn
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
