GAELIC GAMESTHE GAA are adamant more adults than ever are playing Gaelic games, despite an ERSI/Irish Sports Council report to be made public today that identifies a "relative decline" in the numbers playing Gaelic games compared to other sporting activities.
The GAA's head of games, Pat Daly, pre-empted today's report by revealing record numbers of adults playing club hurling and football.
There are 1,534 male teams registered for club hurling and 2,966 for football in Ireland. This does not include underage, post-primary or third-level teams.
The ERSI/Irish Sports Council report, which will be presented by the economist Dr Pete Lunn in the presence of the new Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen, is entitled "Sporting lives: an analysis of a lifetime of Irish sport" and notes more adults are participating in sports than ever before in Ireland.
It states a majority of adults taking up sport are not joining team games, opting instead for individual pursuits like aerobics and jogging.
"In all team sports there is a drop-off for adults, be it on leaving school, university or around the 30 mark," said a spokesman for the Sports Council.
"Take basketball for example. It has a chronic drop-off rate among teenage females, as once they leave second level (education) they disappear."
Other team sports such as soccer, with indoor and five-a-side, and rugby, with the increasingly popular tag competitions, attract a great many participants in a less-competitive environment, but Daly insists the GAA also continues to entice decent adult numbers to play games in a similarly relaxed environment.
"We are currently working on social and recreational games to cater for that constituency. Our games (football and hurling) are more competitive by their nature, but we are developing another option called mega-touch which is non-physical contact football and hurling that will be the equivalent to tag or indoor soccer. We will be formally launching these over the next 12 months.
"There is certainly no concern from a GAA perspective. We're at a loss as to where they are coming from with this. Right across the board our figures don't reflect a decline, be it relative or otherwise. Our robust statistics make such a statement beyond comprehension."
Meanwhile, the GAA are still awaiting confirmation from the Australian Football League regarding a venue and date for a second International Rules test later this year.
As it stands, the series is in danger of being scrapped as the AFL seem unable to secure a venue outside of Melbourne for the first test (the second is traditionally at the Melbourne Cricket Ground) because of disruption caused by Australia hosting the Rugby League World Cup in October.
The GAA head of marketing, Dermot Power, and the AFL projects manager, Dean Moore, have been liaising, but Croke Park set a deadline of tomorrow for a fixture announcement.
If there is no solution by then, Seán Boylan will not bring an Irish team to Australia to renew a relationship between the two codes that fell apart in 2006 because of what was seen as extreme aggression from the professional Australians.
"There is an urgency attached to the matter now," added Daly. "We need an answer by Friday but there are logistical issues preventing the AFL from sourcing a second venue."
