Pat Spillane: Rural depopulation is killing communities and the GAA must help

Roscommon continue to force us to eat humble pie while Jack McCaffrey demonstrated that his turbo booster is still working, despite a three-year break.

Against Mayo, Kerry produced what I believe was their worst ever half of football – and don’t get me started on the two red cards in the Dublin v Cork game.

We might as well designate Gaelic football as a non-contact sport if this is the way the game is going to be refereed for the rest of the season.

However, I’m focusing today on the off-the-field action, namely the GAA’s annual Congress.

In my humble opinion it is a complete waste of time.

Where is the vision for the future?

For example, delegates voted to allow Kerry hurlers to play in their own provincial championships if they were to win the Joe McDonagh Cup, while the Galway Minor team will be allowed play in the Leinster Championship this summer. Groundbreaking initiatives? I don’t think so.

The big news was the election of a new president, former Armagh captain Jarlath Burns, who will take up office in 12 months’ time.

On a personal level it is a great honour for Jarlath, though the role is largely ceremonial.

Being president of the GAA is not unlike being president of Ireland.

It revolves around appearances and speech-making, with no real input into policy issues.

In my lifetime Peter Quinn was the only GAA president who left an indelible mark.

He was a visionary – and the new Croke Park is a testament to his ability to think outside the box.

Nowadays the real power in the GAA is far removed from the president’s office.

Nonetheless, Burns can still make an impact. He is articulate, well-informed and not afraid to tackle sacred cows.

So, can I offer my tuppence worth on what his priorities should be?

For starters, he should end the practice of rewarding the ‘usual suspects’ with places on the various Croke Park/GAA committees.

Nine times out of ten the only reason they’re picked is because they helped the sitting president get elected. Instead bring in new people with vision and fresh ideas.

But my main plea to Jarlath this morning is to address my pet issue: rural depopulation and the challenges it presents to so many GAA clubs.

The well-being of the local GAA club is a very accurate barometer for the overall health of a community.

The truth is many clubs are struggling, which means communities are struggling.

Last Sunday in the business section of the Sunday Independent, Fearghal O’Connor highlighted figures from a recently published CSO report, which demonstrated the growing inequalities between urban and rural Ireland.

Here is a sample. In 2020 Donegal had the lowest level of disposable income per person in the country, at €18,000. Guess what: Dublin has the highest at €27,000. The national average was €22,000. All the border and midland counties are below the national average.

Sadly, the problem is getting worse. In 2020, the gap between the lowest and highest income per capita stood at €9,364, a ten per cent increase on the 2019 figure of €8,505.

Another CSO report highlighted the issue of vacant houses in Ireland.

One in ten houses in Leitrim are vacant; the vacancy figures in Roscommon and Mayo are 9.5 and 8.7 per cent respectively. Guess where the lowest vacancy rates are: South Dublin, at 1.4 per cent.

One wonders does anybody in government actually talk to each other about how our housing crisis could be resolved.

The GAA is apolitical – and, as a result, we take a far too passive approach to national issues.

But rural depopulation has huge consequences for the GAA. Right now amalgamations are the norm at under-age level, and many clubs struggle to field adults teams.

My plea to Jarlath is to work with the government and come up with a plan to address these social issues.

Admittedly it is daunting task, because the issue is not high on the government’s priority list. The ‘rural department’ has been subsumed into the bigger Department of Social Protection.

Worse still, the designated junior Minister Joe O’Brien is now also responsible for finding houses for Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers.

Sadly, nothing much has changed since John Healy wrote his famous book ‘Death of an Irish Town’ about the devastating impact emigration had on his home town Charlestown in County Mayo in 1968.

Fifty five years later the situation is a lot worse. In virtually every county there are an increasing number of towns and villages dying.

So, if the new president wants to leave a legacy I suggest he comes up with a targeted plan with specific goals which the government would be too embarrassed to ignore.

PS There was a bit too much self-praise at Congress for how well the split season and Tailteann Cup worked last year.

The split season works in theory, but even its biggest fans need to admit it needs tweaking. Elite players, in particular Sigerson Cup players, who are also playing for their counties, are being flogged towards early retirement.

Too many games are squeezed into too narrow a window, with virtually nothing of note happening in August and September.

Why not bite the bullet and start the League in December?

The fans have an appetite for games and counties are playing challenge matches anyway, and at the other end of the season play the All-Ireland finals on the last two Sundays of August.

Those changes would still leave a four-month window for the clubs in all but a handful of counties.

As for the Tailteann Cup, I remain to be convinced it is serving the needs of the weaker counties.

Louth, Cork, Clare and Kildare currently occupy second-last place in Division 3. It is quite possible that the Lilies or the Rebels will be in the Tailteann Cup in 2023.

The Tailteann Cup ought to be contested by the eight Division 4 teams, New York and the two teams relegated from Division 3. Then it will be serving its proper role.