Demographic concerns loom ahead of Congress 2025

Forty motions will be heard by the GAA's Annual Congress which starts in Donegal today, but perhaps some of the biggest concerns facing the association won’t be tabled as official proposals.

Instead, much-needed work is ongoing behind the scenes to address some key threats that are providing daunting challenges to the GAA.

One such issue is demographics.

At the moment 44% of the island's population is serviced by just 19% of the country's GAA clubs as people move in numbers from rural to urban areas.

It has left rural GAA clubs struggling to field teams due to a lack of numbers.

Meanwhile, urban GAA clubs are overwhelmed; too many players, not enough teams or pitches.

The country’s increasing urbanisation is something that has been on the minds of GAA officials for some time.

It may even be indirectly acknowledged at Congress this weekend through a St Mary’s Rosslare motion driven by former Wexford manager Liam Griffin.

Griffin’s Congress proposal seeks that every club in Ireland would field at least one hurling team between the Under-7 and U10 grades with an initial fine of €250 installed for clubs who do not comply.

This fine would double every subsequent year if no action was taken.

Within the motion, Griffin has made an exception for clubs who can demonstrate that they simply do not have enough players to field a side, which reflects the struggle for numbers that some rural clubs are experiencing.

Overall, it will be a Congress dominated mostly by potential changes to the football series and the possible re-introduction of replays for provincial and All-Ireland finals, but there are a number of hurling-related motions on this year’s Congress Clar.

The Hurling Development Committee (HDC) yesterday announced its latest scheme to