Dermot Crowe: Jarlath Burns takes aim at planning and local authorities as GAA tries to tackle 'existential crisis'

"Shifting living patterns have created serious challenges for countless clubs, with 11-a-side games being proposed to help those short on numbers"

"The impact of demographic change on the GAA was laid bare in a report launched in Croke Park yesterday by president Jarlath Burns, who warned: "If we lose clubs, we lose communities"."

"The value of communities in Irish life was a central theme where Burns challenged the assertion of Margaret Thatcher's that there is no such thing as community, just individuals who want to better themselves."

Shifting living patterns have created serious challenges for countless clubs across Ireland. 11-a-side games have been proposed to assist clubs that are short on numbers and to preserve playing opportunities. Demographic change has reduced player pools, strained volunteer resources and threatened the viability of traditional club structures. A report launched in Croke Park highlights these trends and warns that the loss of clubs would erode local communities. The importance of community life in Ireland is reasserted, countering claims that community does not exist and emphasizing the social role that clubs play in sustaining local cohesion.

Read at Independent