County Derry athletes represent Ulster at All Ireland Wheelchair Hurling Finals

Three talented County Derry athletes formed part of the Ulster squad who competed in the M.Donnelly GAA Wheelchair Hurling All-Ireland Finals in Carlow on Sunday September 22.

Conor McGrotty from Limavady, Jason Muldoon from Newbridge and Cathal McAtamney from Swatragh represented County Derry in the Ulster team at the interprovincial championship final.

Ulster played a strong Munster panel in the first match and Leinster in the second, narrowly losing out to the talented Munster team, who were eventually victorious in the overall competition after their success in the League.

Limavady athlete Conor McGrotty commented upon how it felt to represent Ulster again in the final, despite missing out on the title on this occasion:

“It is a great honour and privilege to play and represent my province and also my county and club.

“I have played in previous finals winning our first All Ireland in 2015 and again in 2016.

“We were runners up in 2022 and 2023 and were beat in the semi-final this year.

“Munster have a very talented squad and are a very tough team to play against.

“It was a tight hard-hitting game and we tried our best but just falling short with the score ending up Ulster 5-0 Munster 6-1.

“The atmosphere was intense with both teams’ supporters willing their players on.

“This result left us needing a win or a draw against Leinster to meet Munster again in the final.

“We battled hard but unfortunately Leinster beat us by a point, needless to say, we were hugely disappointed.”

Conor, who was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, began playing wheelchair hurling 15 years ago.

He described how he was introduced to wheelchair hurling and the immense benefits to playing the sport:

“I got started in the sport of wheelchair hurling 15 years ago when I was trying out wheelchair basketball at Magee university in Derry.

“When the session was over, Paul Callaghan, the hurling coach, approached me and asked me if I was interested in the GAA.

“I said yes and he invited me to Cookstown, where we now train, to try it out and I've played for Ulster ever since.

“We train every week in Mid Ulster Sports Arena Cookstown for 2 hours and do our own individual gym work.

“I really enjoy taking part in this sport as it gets me out meeting new people, staying active and competing at interprovincial level.

“I would highly recommend it to anyone with a disability.

“It is definitely growing since I started, we started with the bare minimum of 6 players and now have a squad of 21 as do most of the other provinces now too.

“GAA For All have definitely promoted inclusion and diversity at all levels.”

Conor’s ultimate ambition in the sport would be to represent Ireland if wheelchair hurling becomes an international sport.

He explained more: “At the moment there is no international level for wheelchair hurling, however, members from each Province form a team to represent Ireland in floorball.

“So far, they have travelled to the Netherlands and Prague to compete.

“While here the Ireland team give a taster session of wheelchair hurling to the other teams.

“Although I haven't been involved in this, my aim is to work and train hard to hopefully one day represent Ireland and take wheelchair hurling international.”