Belfast has too many clubs, and a lot of kids are not being directed into gaa clubs the way they used too at primary level.. schools have more options, I didnt go to a school that had soccer, both Primary and secondary were all Gaa, teachers seemed to have more time to coach and I can remember coaches coming in from other clubs to help out (or poach

)
Now you have soccer in all schools, parents arent bothered anymore also, as long as they are doing something they seem happy enough.. Can't blame soccer for that, its wall to wall coverage on TV so it will have an impact, plus their fixtures are run a lot better TBH..
Drink was always there but drugs now is big factor, mental health issues are another thing on the rise, not sure what the clubs do now for awareness on these areas, but that needs to be tackled..
The troubles actually helped with Gaa numbers I believe, mainly because of identity, identifying yourself with Ireland and or national sport, the family side of it increased numbers, brothers all playing for the one club and so on, that's still there of course but getting less and less.. once the troubles had stopped kids started to get their kicks elswhere, Belfast opened up and the club wasnt a place where you hung out, the city centre was..
How do we get it back? back to basics for me, get the planning right in the clubs for starters... I know we have taken our eye of the ball lately and as a club we are going through that down turn that all clubs go through, we need to sort ourselves out and no amount of money from headquarters will fix that unless we create the right mix of coaching, encouragement, attitudes and targets to inspire children to stay at the club through to senior...
Its not that long ago we had 2 senior hurling teams, 3 senior football teams, 2 south antrim (beer belly teams

) all getting games.. we are back to one in each code, feeder teams are important but kids just want to play for the first team and walk away now if they are not getting a chance.. The numbers are there and the facilities/pitches are better than what I played on so hopefully the planning that Antrim will put in place with the investment will sort things out long term.. oh and get Casemnet built!