Hopes local GAA jobs initiative will be rolled out nationwide

A jobs fair, organised by the GAA in Kerry to help tackle unemployment in the county, could be a template for the association nationally.

The initiative comes as many of Kerry’s smaller GAA clubs struggle to survive. Close to half of the county’s 76 clubs no longer have a minor team.

The jobs event will be held in Killarney this Friday with information being provided on 200 vacancies available in Kerry and a further 3,500 nationally.

Recruitment and state agencies will be represented.

The Kerry county board is believed to be one of the first units of the GAA to hold such a fair which will closely watched by other county boards.

Several GAA clubs in Kerry are having difficulty in fielding teams because of emigration and many have been forced to amalgamate at under-age level to put out teams for various competitions.

Kerry GAA Board chairman Patrick O’Sullivan yesterday said the GAA was in a position to do something about the jobs crisis because it was organised in every parish.

However, he said they did not wish to create false hope, adding information would be provided about available jobs and what skills were needed to get them.

“The GAA at a wider level will be looking at the event and how it goes and it may yet be rolled out in other counties,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

Unemployment levels in Kerry have soared in recent years, with about 17,000 people currently on the live register.

Several rural clubs with small populations are struggling to survive and have been badly hit by the construction industry collapse, in particular, in which many of their playing members had been employed.

According to Diarmuid Ó Sé, chairman of the Kerry GAA’s depopulation sub-committee, current problems have their roots in the emigration that took place in the 1970s and 80s.

“At least half of the people who left at that time didn’t come back,” he pointed out.

“In the normal course of events, they’re the people who would be raising families here now and renewing the population. Their loss is being felt.”

* The Kerry GAA jobs fair will take place on Friday between 2pm and 9pm in the INEC, Killarney.