Hi All
I have a question primarily for the Dubs here however anyone can chime in as its a free forum
I am based in Dublin myself and have been for the last 20 years. I love Dublin and have great banter at work with my Dub Colleagues around football.
There is a lot of complaining on here by other counties about teams in rural areas having to amalgamate to make up a squad, rural depopulation and no jobs, emigration . When I visit home myself I notice this with the recent closure of a rural post office ( nearest 10 miles away) and only one shop in the Village.
Some might argue that emigration/migration has always been an issue from rural areas and yes that very true but to my mind it is more acute now as years ago you had big families ( my father came from a family of 14) yes some emigrated but some also remained and they in turn had families of 4/5 . However families are samller now for example out of the 4 of us 3 no longer live in the county with the one remaining not having children, I would know many others who would be in a similar situation
So my question to Dubs is are they aware of the pressures on rural clubs and if so do they care about the issue and its knock on affect on the Sport loved by all here or is it a case of not my county not my problem?
By the way I don't want this to develop into a bun fight over all that crap about splitting Dublin or taking funding off them

locky76 (Dublin) - Posts: 11 - 24/01/2020 13:55:13    2261934

superbluedub (Dublin) - Posts: 2837 - 24/01/2020 14:33:23    2261940

I think its a broadly unhelpful polarising premise.

There are many urban centers that attract migrants as well as Dublin, Belfast, Galway, Cork, Waterford etc etc.

Then rural Ireland is a bit of a catchall, as well. There are many rural parts of Dublin, Meath, Kildare, Loais Weastmeath and the other cities i mention above that cant really be compared to say North Leitrim, Mayo or Donegal.

Then there is intra county migration. I notice some rural areas of counties having to amalgamate teams, while big towns in their counties have three or four teams in the town alone, some rural parts of Kerry struggling for numbers and number of teams in around Kilarney would be an example.

In urban areas, there are issues to, i recently visited a junior club in North Mayo, the facilities were incredible and came at a huge cost largely funded by excellent volunteers and fundraising. I was out Cuala way who are Senior All Ireland hurling winners quite recently and Club footballers were in the B final this year and have stal warts on the Dublin 5 ina row team. they play on council pitches in the local park.

Rurally there is so much land for cheap cost in comparison to urban areas that its difficult for GAA especialy n Dublin to grow and thrive and provide facilities for the benifit of the game, they just arent making land in Dublin. Its a big issue as we need more clubs. migration seems all well and good in a very simplistic view, but where and how do you cater for greater numbers and if you do the GAA get a lashing for Dublin or big urban centers getting increased resources, relatively speaking.

Take something like a center of excellence the entire Kerry project i think was about 5 mill for currans, from land to opening. In Dublin we are trying to cultivate the Spawell site, its was 7-9 million to buy the site alone.

There are without doubt issues out side of Dublin, but there are also issues in urban centres to that dont cross the radars of those that live out side it.

Any way as i said the premise is a bit polarised, Dublin and the rest of the country is "rural", please, thats just silly and simplistic really.

TheUsername (Dublin) - Posts: 4445 - 24/01/2020 14:35:11    2261941

Why would/should club members or Dublin GAA fans care about whats happening in other clubs particularly outside of their own county?

Like I'm not trying to be smart but what difference does it make if they do or don't take umbrage with the situation, its nothing to do with them and not their fault or responsibility to fix?

On saying this, perhaps an exchange of sorts could be arranged. For every 1000 Litres required from the Shannon to subsidise the demand for water in Dublin, 2 club players and and a bag of footballs/sliotars could be sent to a rural parish club?

LongfordSham (Longford) - Posts: 106 - 24/01/2020 14:46:04    2261943

waynoI (Dublin) - Posts: 13650 - 24/01/2020 17:35:47    2261965

If the problem is population shifts what can anyone in the GAA Dublin or otherwise really do about it

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 24/01/2020 19:57:30    2261996

Are Dubs aware of the pressures facing junior clubs in Dublin in the face of relentless money being pumped into the senior super clubs?

cavanman47 (Cavan) - Posts: 5010 - 24/01/2020 20:00:09    2261997

Strange thread. Shouldn't really be directed at just Dubs imo.

Rural depopulation is benefitting clubs in Dublin and in the other cities but it'll also massively benefit the clubs in the big towns as well.

The idea that everything outside of Dublin is rural is silly too. The majority of the country lives in an urban setting now, be that in a city or in a town.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13704 - 24/01/2020 20:45:15    2262001

Both population change and also changes in leisure habits which is something being noted in many sports could lead to a significant shift in the GAA club scene. Stuff like this has happened before Limerick in particular went through a big churn as the city clubs began to lose out to rural and suburban clubs who had more natural roots in communities and therefore easier access to underage teams. Other big clubs with good roots lost out to none GAA sports

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 24/01/2020 22:22:58    2262029

Rural depopulation is not the fault of Dubs or even the Government for that matter. We're not an agrarian society anymore.

Hawkeye9212 (Donegal) - Posts: 266 - 24/01/2020 23:46:24    2262048

greysoil (Monaghan) - Posts: 965 - 25/01/2020 07:36:48    2262062

greysoil (Monaghan) - Posts: 965 - 25/01/2020 07:39:35    2262063

Emigration is not unique to rural areas and neither is depopulation in general. Thousands upon thousands of Dubs have and are deserting their home county to live in "commuter belt" counties like Meath, Kildare, Wicklow, Louth as they simple can't afford a house or to pay rent back home. Many are playing GAA in their adopted counties, are coaching and raising their kids to play for local clubs. Not unique to rural areas at all.

Joxer (Dublin) - Posts: 4700 - 25/01/2020 09:53:56    2262085

SamandLiamSoon (Galway) - Posts: 588 - 25/01/2020 11:41:31    2262102

I've lived in various cities (Belfast, Dublin, New York, London, Hamburg) - metropolitans the world over share one characteristic - almost-total ignorance of and indifference to anything outside the big city.

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 25/01/2020 13:02:19    2262125

essmac (Tyrone) - Posts: 1141 - 25/01/2020 13:06:14    2262126

Breezy (Limerick) - Posts: 1236 - 25/01/2020 13:54:51    2262148

lionofludesch (Down) - Posts: 475 - 25/01/2020 14:34:34    2262157

Dubs can and are aware of the issues facing rural Ireland but what exactly can they do about it? I could turn things around and say do many people in rural Ireland understand the challenges facing even the biggest clubs in Dublin? The key to solutions is knowing exactly what the problem is. You would imagine technology would make things easier, home schooling, remote working etc But it hasn't worked out that way. Even the biggest clubs have serious problems with pitches, and smaller clubs in Dublin are hit with a changing demographic. I don't see any change to this in the short term.

arock (Dublin) - Posts: 4895 - 25/01/2020 18:46:17    2262223