FEAR IT ALL BURNS OUT & FADES AWAY

Jarlath: We're 'gunner have to do something before it's too late

- BY PAUL KEANE

POWERFUL clubs like Munster hurling champions Ballygunner may need to bite the bullet and accept that a brand new club in the area is necessary.

That's the message from GAA president Jarlath Burns who outlined a broad suite of measures to address the trends of rural depopulation and urban overload.

The GAA has produced a fresh report on the issue titled 'No One Shouted Stop - Until Now. The GAA's response to Ireland's demographic shift'.

The report notes that nearly half of the island's seven million-plus population exists in a narrow strip of land along the east coast between Antrim and Wexford.

Yet with just over 18 percent of the GAA's clubs located in this area, many are reporting pitch shortages, volunteer/ coach burnout and children being excluded.

Meanwhile, in the villages and rural areas throughout the rest of the country, populations are shrinking and the local GAA clubs are struggling even to field teams.

Benny Hurl, chairman of the National Demographics Committee, gave the example of south Kerry where just 83 children enrolled in a total of 13 different primary schools in the region this year.

Over in Waterford, and around the Ballygunner area in particular, they're enjoying a population boom.

Burns said: "Ballygunner now is so, so big.

"We saw they won the Munster final at the weekend. They have won the Intermediate A final so many times that it's affecting the Senior and Intermediate grades in Waterford. And that's not Ballygunner's fault, they're just in an area where there's a population explosion.

"A solution to that problem that is being presented by Port Lairge is that Ballygunner have two Division 1 teams.