Gaelic Athletic Association - Modern Challenges

Modern Challenges

The association today defines itself as "a National Organisation which has as its basic aim the strengthening of the National Identity in a 32 County Ireland through the preservation and promotion of Gaelic games and pastimes."

Additional aims of the association are stated as:

1. To actively support the Irish language, traditional Irish dancing, music, song, and other aspects of Irish culture. It shall foster an awareness and love of the national ideals in the people of Ireland, and assist in promoting a community spirit through its clubs.
2. To promote its aims amongst communities abroad through its overseas units.
3. To support the promotion of Camogie and Ladies Gaelic Football.
4. To support Irish industry by sourcing equipment from Irish manufacturers.

Ireland has changed rapidly since the mid 1990s. EU enlargement, combined with the Celtic Tiger economy, had led to substantial immigration particularly from the EU's new member states in Eastern Europe. This means that part of the country's population is now outside the traditional native-born family structure through which the GAA tradition was passed from generation to generation, and the organisation has little experience in marketing itself to those unfamiliar with Gaelic games. The GAA has launched a number of projects to attract non-traditional members such as consulting with the Australian Football League and running leagues aimed at non-Irish nationals.

Other challenges for the GAA include increasing urbanisation, and the impact of emigration trends on the GAA's activities outside Ireland. Declining emigration during the Celtic Tiger years of the early 21st century, combined with tighter US immigration restrictions, led to a decline in the number of clubs in the USA, but the subsequent collapse of the Irish economy led to a resumption of emigration and growth of international GAA clubs. Despite the large Irish diaspora, Gaelic games remain fairly low-profile outside the Irish expatriate community. Initiatives such as full-time development officers, and high-profile competitions such as the Continental Youth Championship and a North American College Hurling Championship currently contested between UC Berkeley and Stanford, are helping to bring the games to non-Irish people, while the British GAA is promoting Gaelic games to youth in Britain.

Corporate Social Responsibility Community Relations: "The headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association is located at Croke Park, which is classified as a National Governing Body stadium, and is one of the largest of it's kind in the world. Over the years relations between Croke Park management and the community in which it is located have been troubled. In response to community concerns, the Dublin City Council in June, 2008 commissioned a broad ranging study on the economic, business and environmental effects/influences of Croke Park not only on its immediate neighbours but also across the wider Dublin City area. The study conducted by a consortium led by DKM Economic Consultants noted:

"that the opportunity to use the redevelopment Of Croke Park as a significant catalyst for master planned urban regeneration during it's redevelopment phase was not captured."

And recommended that:

"For certain a stronger focus on building a positive relationship with the 'Dublin neighbors' should be targeted in the future"

In its Annual Report of 2011, PACT, Ltd. management acknowledged that their community relations problems persist, describing their relationship with the neighboring community as "mixed".In the weeks before Christmas, 2011, individual members of the community who have been protesting PACT's plan to demolish the local community centre were sued by the GAA/ PACT, Ltd. This action has since been condemned by a Dublin City Council committee. The community have responded by issuing a national petition of members and supporters of the GAA to stop the legal action against individual community volunteers, and to protect the centre in dispute. Legal proceedings are ongoing.

Advertising and Sponsorship:

In December of 2011, Doctor Joseph Barry spoke out on Irish radio about the dangers, particularly to young people, of exposure to Alcohol advertising. He pointed in particular to GAA sponsorship by the manufacturers of Guinness stout. Dr. Barry's comments echoed those of The College of Psychiatry of Ireland in its press release of December 2010 in which it called for termination of all alcohol advertising and sponsorships in Ireland. In doing so they cited research showing that 86% of Irish teenagers - and more than one in five primary school children - have experimented with alcohol.