In line with Legislation requirements and Association Rules, all persons working with children or young people in a voluntary or paid capacity, must be appropriately vetted and adequately trained prior to commencing their role. Those who are involved in the management of individuals appointed to work with children or young people in your club must also be vetted.

Vetting is carried out by AccessNI through Ulster GAA for those involved in clubs in Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone, where they return criminal history information on the applicant. This enables Ulster GAA to make more informed recruitment decisions in relation to the suitability of the applicant for the role. Ulster GAA process applications for vetting checks free of charge, for our Volunteers at a clubs request.

We remind all clubs that they should not permit anyone to work with their children or young people in the Club until they have been suitably Vetted, adequately trained and approved for their role.

The Vetting Process

  1. Applicant fills out the Online Application Form
  2. Club Officer verifies and signs Applicant Cover Form and ID Document Copies before forwarding same to Ulster GAA
  3. Ulster GAA approve the form and the ID and send to Access NI
  4. Access NI Process the form and issue the Disclosure Certificate directly to the applicant
  5. Ulster GAA write to the applicant to confirm their vetting acceptance
  6. If there is information on your Certificate, Ulster GAA will write out to you requesting sight of the certificate in hard copy in its original form, it is vital that you send this on as soon as possible.
  7. Ulster GAA risk assess all Enhanced Disclosure Certificates that contain information, where there are areas of concern, we will contact the applicant directly and meet with them to discuss before any decision with regard to their suitability for the position applied is made.
  8. Where required, Ulster GAA will meet with club officers to discuss any areas of concern.
    Applicants have the right to appeal any decision made by Ulster GAA in relation to their suitability for the position applied.
  9. Acceptance letters are valid for three years from the date of completion at which stage they must then be renewed by submitting a new application.

Please read the information below to assist you in filling out the Access NI Application Form:

Ulster Council Terms and Conditions

All clubs must agree to abide by these terms and conditions before checks can be carried out on their behalf.  The club chairperson and secretary sign these along with the nominated officer. NB When there has been a change in personnel in any one of these three positions a new form must be submitted asap.

Ulster Council Terms and Conditions

Applicant Cover Form and 6 digit PIN number

All applicants must forward the completed cover form along with their signed copies of ID to Ulster GAA.

The template for clubs/counties returning applications for checks

The nominated officer/chairperson/secretary is required to sign off on the original identity documents and then attach photocopies to the ID cover form and send to us. NB we do not require the original ID documents.

Acceptable forms of identity documents can be found in the Applicant ID Cover form below:

Applicant Cover Form and 6 digit PIN number

E-Application Applicant Instructions

Applicant instructions are outlined on the attached cover form with further information available in the Ulster GAA AccessNI E-Vetting Guidance Document.  Nominated Officers should ask applicants to go to the link below to register and complete their vetting application:

E-Application Applicant Instructions

Once the applicant has been completed and submitted their application, please ask them to record their 10 digit case tracking reference number onto their cover form and attach copies of ID and return it to the nominated officer.  This cover form must then be forwarded to Ulster GAA via the Club Nominated Officer.

AccessNI E-Application Process Guidance

This is a step by step guidance document with screen examples to help applicants complete the online application.  This document outlines the process on setting up a new account via the NIDirect website for new account users; how to complete the online application and; how to track their application once it has been submitted for processing.

AccessNI E-Application Process Guidance

Please Note

Club Nominated Officers should also be aware that Ulster GAA cannot process any online applications without the appropriate copies of ID documents and individual cover forms.  Therefore it is vital that these are submitted to Ulster GAA within one month to allow the online application to be processed accordingly.