GAA jerseys to add a rainbow of colour at this year's Ploughing
Club jerseys were all the rage at the 2025 National Ploughing Championships in Screggan, Co Offaly. Picture: Dan Linehan
GAA jerseys from every county were spotted at last year's National Ploughing Championships.
Next week, the rural pageant returns to Screggan, near Tullamore, Co Offaly, for the second year in a row.
But this time, Mayo’s green and red colours are expected to dominate the trackways, marking the county’s first Sam Maguire Cup win in 75 years.
The whole country saluted Andy Moran and his Footballing Fusiliers on that historic success because it transcended sport and was an inspiring example to people struggling everywhere with societal and other challenges.
Rural Ireland, like the Mayo footballers and Limerick’s All-Ireland-winning hurlers, has endured triumphs and adversity over the centuries.
It has learned to celebrate the good days with joy, handle difficult times with patience and plan for a better future, always pledging to never give up on its dreams.
The ploughing championships is therefore a good place to reflect on the role of the GAA in society and the worrying growth of rural depopulation.
What the Mayo footballers achieved this year highlighted the resilience of a proud county, the ongoing epic journey of its people and their ability to “face the tearing ocean” of life’s challenges with courage and conviction.
The county’s joy from the day that faith and dreams rhymed to achieve success in Croke Park are likely to spill over to the ploughing championships, which celebrates rural life.
But all is not well in many rural towns and villages across the countryside, with multiple issues resulting in the loss of many established services.
However, Rural Ireland generally is not dying in terms of its total population, which grew by 5.8% between 2016 and 2022. The increase was even 6.4% in some areas.
But it is not a uniform growth. Smaller rural communities are struggling with the closure of pubs, shops, sub-post offices, bank branches, Garda stations, primary schools and other services.
Urbanisation, eastward migration for work and education and falling birth rates are also reshaping the demographic landscape and eroding the social fabric.
Caring communities, progressive people, a meitheal spirit and many amenities and services funded by the State, European Union and local bodies are pillars of rural life.
But the GAA is warning that without urgent co-ordinated action, rural clubs will disappear, leaving parishes without representation, while urban clubs will implode under the weight of unchecked growth.
It has published a report with a set of actions outlining the scale of the challenges in an Ireland, north and south, with a population of over seven million people, the largest since 1851 but one that is concentrated in cities and towns.
Many rural GAA clubs are already struggling to field as many teams as before, while those in urban areas are trying to cope with huge numbers, placing burdens on their volunteers and access to playing and training facilities.
GAA president Jarlath Burns said no bigger issue has emerged in the last 100 years as a threat to the Association’s ability to stay relevant to its members than the subject of demographics.
“Many of these challenges are outside of the GAA’s remit to control. But what we must do is have a conversation about how capable we are to be able to still have a foothold and pulse in our cities, towns, villages and rural communities,” he said.
Benny Hurl, chair of the GAA National Demographics Committee, which published the report, put the issue in context when he spoke at a meeting of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Housing and Heritage in January.
He said the GAA, together with the Ladies Gaelic Football Association, LGFA, and the Camogie Association, has over 2,300 clubs with 760,000 members.
“Our clubs are just not sporting organisations, they are anchors of place, identity and community life.
“When population changes, the clubs feel it immediately. When families cannot get access to housing, clubs lose players and ultimately volunteers.
“When new communities are built without sufficient facilities, clubs are overwhelmed. When areas hollow out, the GAA club often becomes the last remaining piece of social infrastructure.
“This is why demography must be understood not as an abstract statistical issue but as a lived reality with direct consequences for participation, health, inclusion and community cohesion,” he said.
Key findings in the GAA report are that 78% of its clubs are in rural areas with growth concentrated in Dublin and its commuter belts.
Yet only 18% of its clubs are located there with resultant pressures on stretched resources, limited access to facilities and a reduction in player retention.
The report proposes a multi-tiered approach of internal and external actions to futureproof GAA clubs and participation rates.
“It is a call to arms. It sets out the evidence, the risks, and the roadmap for renewal. The message is clear: demography must be placed at the heart of GAA strategy.
The next decade will decide whether Gaelic games remain a vibrant force in Irish life or become fractured by demographic divides,” it says.
As that debate intensifies, the Government has reiterated its commitment to rural Ireland and is now preparing its policy document Our Rural Future for the next five years, having consulted widely.
Under the current policy, billions of euros were invested in rural projects and services by the State and the European Union with the support of local groups.
Delivery of the national broadband plan, the development of a national network of over 400 remote working hubs and enhanced public transport services are among the achievements.
Investing in rural communities through a regeneration and development fund, a town and village renewal scheme and an outdoor recreation infrastructure scheme are seen as other successes.
CLÁR, a targeted Government initiative, provides capital investment for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas that have experienced population decline.
And the Common Agricultural Policy, which includes the LEADER programme, continues to play a vital role in rural Ireland where farming remains a core sector.
Rural and Community Minister Dara Calleary said Our Rural Future policy clearly puts thriving, vibrant and inclusive communities at the very heart of national development.
“Without sustained support and investment in our rural areas, we cannot deliver on the economic, social, cultural and environmental development that will underpin the quality of life of all our citizens.
As such, rural development remains a key priority for this Government and it is imperative that we ensure that our towns, villages and more remote rural communities can maximise their potential now and into the future.
“However, I am conscious that this growth is inconsistent and that many areas are still losing population,” he said, pledging to work on the issue.
Ireland’s transformation from a largely rural society to an urban one will be under increased focus at next week’s ploughing championships, where the GAA regularly exhibits.
