GAA Demographics

[delgany]

GAA Report on demographics has highlighted the urban over growth. It has identified that 25% of all under 5s are concentrated around just 50 clubs in Dublin, Belfast,Co.Down, Galway & Cork.

This is an amazing stat. Its impact haz so many outputs- rural depopulation v urban clubs unable to meet the needs in their locality.

[seafoid]

https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/gaelic-games/2025/12/04/gaa-outline-the-fightback-on-rural-decline-and-urban-overload/

GAA outline the fightback on rural decline and urban overload
National Demographics Committee launches its report at Croke Park


Seán Moran
Thu Dec 04 2025 - 15:36


The scale of the demographic challenges facing the GAA was laid out in full at Thursday's launch of the association's national demographic committee report, No One Shouted Stop – Until Now.

The name was inspired by the late Irish Times journalist John Healy's prophetic book – originally published in 1968 – on the depopulation of his native Charlestown in his Mayo.

The immense population shift to towns and particularly towards the east of the country was demonstrated on a number of graphics, particularly one narrow section, stretching from Larne in Antrim down as far as Wexford. It is home to 43.5 per cent of the population but just 25.4 per cent of GAA members and 18.6 per cent of its clubs.

"That map tells the story that our population and our clubs no longer align," said GAA president Jarlath Burns. "Half of Ireland's population live in this thin strip and 18.6 per cent of our clubs are located here. This mismatch is a visual warning that Ireland's demographics have shifted dramatically, and the GAA must shift with them."


Other key data points include:

• 25.5 per cent of all 0-5 year-olds in Ireland are concentrated across just 50 clubs


• 52 per cent of 0-5 year-olds are to be found in Dublin, Belfast, Down, Kildare, Galway and Cork

• 78 per cent of GAA clubs are in rural areas with declining populations


Peter Horgan, secretary to the committee, pointed out that the island's population was now at seven million, the largest it had been since 1851 but that "the balance of population has changed massively".

Committee chair, Benny Hurl, from Tyrone, sombrely held up a jersey. It was from Dregish, a local club that had disappeared in 2019 into an amalgamation with Newtownstewart.

"We hope that this report will go in some small way to try to ensure that no more small clubs succumb. In Dregish, the school closed and the pub closed and everything else closed."

He added that "we're here to focus on solutions and outcomes."


Those solutions are divided into three areas – internal action, evidence-based strategy and external engagement.

The first includes being more flexible in assisting clubs to retain their official status, targeted growth of new and existing clubs and the activation of pilot projects in Kerry and Kildare focusing on urban centres and rural areas with declining populations in both counties.

There is also a recommendation for the support of modified games programmes where clubs struggle to field 15 players by having more blitzes or 11-a-side or 9-a-side competition, and regional competitions with clubs pooling resources.

The section on external engagement recommends: the setting up of an all-island framework to co-ordinate relationships with Government and local authorities; engaging with national Government, specifically the departments of sport, education, children, health, rural and community development and the Gaeltacht as well as housing and local Government.

Horgan outlined one line of approach.

"Can we develop a social enterprise case study within that space to provide employment, provide opportunities for people in rural Ireland, which might anchor people to those rural communities?"


The biggest social issues are also the main challenges for the island's biggest sports organisation: housing and the availability of employment in remote areas.

As Burns encapsulated it: "Is this a satisfactory scenario for our country to be? Where children can't build a house where they were born and can't buy a house where they work?"

Hurl declared he was an optimist and commended the report. "Hopefully, it will become a lifeline to the small clubs and it will develop the middle-sized clubs and perhaps the really big clubs as well.

"The GAA is the glue that keeps the communities together all of Ireland. And the GAA is worth fighting for."

[WeeDonns]

GAA's National Demographics Committee Report

Really interesting information in this.
You can see the scenario of rural clubs with great facilities having to amalgamate with >1 other club at youth level to keep going in the hope of being able to continue to field as separate units at adult level for another few years..
You wonder how these clubs, who don't have the numbers to field youth teams, will have the population to maintain their facilities going forward?


& then you've the flip side of urban clubs with 4 teams at each youth level competing within their own clubs for access to facilities - does the GAA at national level need to step in & buy land for pitches in Belfast & Dublin?

[mayo.mick]

Seen this earlier

[Rossfan]

Sligo is higher than I'd have expected!

[toby47]

That is a brilliant report, serious amount of detail and stats in it.

[tiempo]

Yep, thesis quality publication, impressive use of GIS

[Hand of God]

Seen this earlier

On the face of that you probably have to put Meath and Kildare as the highest underachievers giving their participation figures are quite good in counties with a significant population.

Cavan also strike me as a county there who should be doing a lot better.

[Rossfan]

Cavan 2nd highest🙄.
Meath and Kikdare woukd have large numbers of foreign residents plus Dublin jackeens who'd know little about Gaelic games.
Percentages of underage would be interesting.

[Hand of God]

Cavan 2nd highest🙄.
Meath and Kikdare woukd have large numbers of foreign residents plus Dublin jackeens who'd know little about Gaelic games.
Percentages of underage would be interesting.

Cavan should be doing a lot better given they have high participation levels in a one code county.

[Evil Genius]

This West-to-East, Rural-to-Urban demographic talk is all very well, but isn't it also ignoring an elephant in the room?

Namely the GAA's complete inability*, even after nearly 150 years existence, to attract/engage with/include 1 million people living in the north east of the island.


* - I say "inability", might I also have said "indifference toward", or even "unwillingness"?

[oakleafgael]

This West-to-East, Rural-to-Urban demographic talk is all very well, but isn't it also ignoring an elephant in the room?

Namely the GAA's complete inability*, even after nearly 150 years existence, to attract/engage with/include 1 million people living in the north east of the island.


* - I say "inability", might I also have said "indifference toward", or even "unwillingness"?

East Belfast GAA have made a sincere attempt at this and been quite successful so stick your trolling up your hole.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqxq4jjy1r4o

[Evil Genius]

This West-to-East, Rural-to-Urban demographic talk is all very well, but isn't it also ignoring an elephant in the room?

Namely the GAA's complete inability*, even after nearly 150 years existence, to attract/engage with/include 1 million people living in the north east of the island.


* - I say "inability", might I also have said "indifference toward", or even "unwillingness"?

East Belfast GAA have made a sincere attempt at this and been quite successful so stick your trolling up your hole.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqxq4jjy1r4o

One club  - and good luck to them - but that's hardly representative.

As for "trolling", don't they have a rule in GAA about "playing the ball rather than the man"?

[oakleafgael]

This West-to-East, Rural-to-Urban demographic talk is all very well, but isn't it also ignoring an elephant in the room?

Namely the GAA's complete inability*, even after nearly 150 years existence, to attract/engage with/include 1 million people living in the north east of the island.


* - I say "inability", might I also have said "indifference toward", or even "unwillingness"?

East Belfast GAA have made a sincere attempt at this and been quite successful so stick your trolling up your hole.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cqxq4jjy1r4o

One club  - and good luck to them - but that's hardly representative.

As for "trolling", don't they have a rule in GAA about "playing the ball rather than the man"?

So not complete then? There are plenty of clubs throughout the north who draw from all sections of the local community and get on with life.

[trueblue1234]

Theres loads of clubs available to unionists. Bout the same as the amount of clubs available to people of a nationalist perspective.
With the risk of engaging in whataboutary, I suppose the same could be said for how the NI support still only pulls from one side as well. Complete failure to properly engage with half the population of NI. A damning failure.