Peter Mernagh this week considers the demographics challenge being faced by the GAA. Views expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily of Wexford GAA.
The Church in recent years has had to adapt to falling numbers of men entering the Priesthood. Currently, there are 77 seminarians training for Irish dioceses. In 1961 there were 3,409 men studying for the Priesthood, while 3,180 Priests were ordained in Ireland between 1956 and 1960.
People had been accustomed to seeing at least one Priest based in each Church, but we are now seeing Parishes amalgamated with others to create new ‘Pastoral Areas’, with perhaps three or four Priests looking after eight or ten Churches.
Now I am sure some of you are wondering why you are reading about this in a GAA matchday programme.
Well, just as the Church has had to adapt to this reality, so too will the GAA have to adapt to changing demographics. Wexford GAA has a Demographics Officer, George Hussey, and a committee currently consists of Kevin Doyle, Cathal Byrne, Michael Sinnott and me, established five years and tasked with examining population trends in Co. Wexford.
It is important to note at this point, that while the opinions I am expressing in this article have obviously been influenced by my involvement in this committee, they are not expressed on behalf of the committee.
Falling birth rates, migration, rural depopulation and urban sprawl are all factors which impact on clubs in contrasting ways.
County Development Plans and national planning policies in recent years have gradually made it more difficult for people to build houses in our most rural areas, often leaving people with little option than to live in the expanding suburbs of our towns. Additionally, people are waiting until they are older to have children and by extension are having fewer children. I was fortunate enough to take the field with three brothers over the years, and my two sisters also play. That isn’t unusual, but it will become far rarer in the next few decades.
In our towns, there are challenges being faced too. The population boom in the Gorey area has seen the Naomh Éanna club expand. In Wexford town, St Joseph’s have put in savage work to build their underage from scratch. Tara Rocks have recently made the decision to stand alone once again and try to expand their club, while Geraldine O’Hanrahans in New Ross have been going through a tough time with playing numbers dropping. Each year we see amalgamations between clubs across the county at underage level. Most of the time it has been between two clubs, but in the last few years we have seen three clubs amalgamating at some age groups, leading to all sorts of fancy blended names. This is going to become more common.
Wexford GAA by-laws on club catchment areas are based on the Parish boundaries from 1972. Find any aerial photograph of our towns from 1972 and they will be almost unrecognisable in size and sprawl. Lots of new housing estates on the west side of Gorey, are considered part of the town of Gorey, but are in the Parish of Craanford. Likewise, in Wexford town, lots of new housing developments are actually situated in Glynn/Barntown, St Martin’s and Shelmalier catchment areas. So whilst there may be a lot of development in towns, it doesn’t always mean that each ‘town’ club will see the benefits of that population influx.
Changing demographics is a gradual, multigenerational thing, the effects of which may not be fully seen for decades. Last weekend, The Irish Times ran a story about the ‘Grandchildren Gap’, which highlights that “at the current total fertility rate of 1.5, 100 grandparents can expect only 56 grandchildren. The CSO predicts that the total fertility rate will drop to 1.3 by 2037, which means that every 100 grandparents will have just 42 grandchildren.”
Some clubs are going to see their numbers increase, while most will see their numbers decline. How long will it be before we see two neighbouring clubs permanently amalgamate?
Food for thought for the GAA.
