New president: urban areas our greatest challenge

ENHANCING club activity in urban centres of population is possibly the greatest challenge facing the GAA going forward, new President Christy Cooney believes.

Informing delegates that while they had lost ground to other sports, a dedicated committee in Croke Park will be working with county boards to develop ways of assisting existing clubs to grow their membership — while at the same time attracting new clubs and new club concepts in urban areas.

“We have made great progress in this area in the recent past, particularly in Dublin and Derry. We will study the good work there, identify what worked well, and use it elsewhere,” he stated. “And this will be linked with our ‘Inclusion and Integration Strategy’ which was launched last week, where we will be reaching out to all members of society, regardless of age, nationality, religion and ability and offering them a ‘Fáilte Romhat’ into our Association.”