GAA director general Páraic Duffy has stated the consistent decrease in Government funding since 2008 may have reached basement levels.
The Monaghan native was speaking after yesterday's announcement by Minister for Sport and Tourism, Michael Ring TD that €7.4 million will be allocated to the IRFU, FAI and GAA for investment at grassroots level.
“Like everybody else, you’d always like to see more,” said Duffy at the Aviva Stadium. “We accept the situation the Government is in. When I came into this job first, six years ago, I think our figure then was €3.24 million; now it’s €2.4 million.
"We've lost almost €1 million but we understand why. We hope that maybe we've reached the bottom now and it will be upwards, but we appreciate any funding we get and we appreciate the way Ireland is at the moment you take the hits like everybody else and we have no complaints about that. We appreciate what we get."
The association’s €2.4 million is fractionally more than rugby’s €2.36 million and €300,000 less than soccer.
That 85 per cent of primary schools in Ireland have a Go Games programme – the GAA's all inclusive hurling and football project – was noted by the Sports Council along with the 81,275 that attend Cúl Camps.
Playing hurling
These figures, along with the 6.2 per cent increase in children playing hurling in Dublin over a 12-month period, however, serve to highlight the drop-off in participation rates of teenagers, particularly after they leave secondary school.
This was shown by a recent report from the Economic and Social Research Institute (ERSI).
“In terms of participation, up to 12- or 13-year-olds we are absolutely fantastic,” Duffy countered. “There is definitely a drop-off from 18 but the point I would have with the ESRI report is that drop-off affects all sports if they are honest.
“I would admit there is an issue with people dropping off from 12 to 18, which is why we are trying to address that at the moment. It’s not just a GAA thing. I think our figures are still huge.
“We certainly would lose people from 12 to 18, as do all sports here, as do sports across the world. In fact, the drop-off rate in Ireland is actually lower than in most other countries.
“The problem we had with the ESRI report was it gave the impression, and maybe the perception was created, that this was a GAA issue.
“This is not a GAA issue; this is a sport issue across the world. It’s an issue in Ireland as elsewhere but I think all the sports are trying to address it.”
On the GAA's relationship with the FAI and IRFU, Duffy added: "Over the last number of years we've worked on a whole range of issues. Most recently the issue has been the Rugby World Cup. We've worked together on the issue of alcohol sponsorship; we actually supported the line of the FAI and IRFU even though it doesn't affect us any longer because we're no longer with Guinness.
"Across a range of issues we meet quite regularly. We worked together on the rates issue. We are rivals. We're rivals in terms of getting kids to play our games, we're rivals for funding or whatever it might be, but there is definitely a very good, positive relationship and if there are issues that affect all of Irish sport, we are always ready, the three of us, to sit down and see if we can get a solution."
Targeting a return
Meanwhile, Dublin dual player Ciarán Kilkenny is targeting a return to play by October, at the earliest, thereby ruling the All Star nominee out of inter-county football in 2014.
Kilkenny had surgery in Santry clinic nine days ago, to mend a ruptured cruciate tendon in his knee, sustained against Kildare at Croke Park on March 8th.
The former AFL rookie with Hawthorn also misses Saturday's All-Ireland under-21 semi-final against Cavan but will travel to Portlaoise with the panel.
The hope is to feature for Castleknock GAA club after a summer of rehabilitation.
“That is what I would love to get back for, playing with the club. We have a great chance in the intermediate football championship and to get promoted from division three with the hurlers and in intermediate championship as well.
“So I’d love to get back for the club, but the main goal is to get this right. My individual goal would be to get back for club football.”
