'When that jersey is never put on again, that's a very sad situation' - former Leitrim County Board chairman

"Rural GAA clubs cannot survive in their present state because there is such a lack of numbers. The government has got to

realise what the GAA has done for society over the years and what it has done for communities; it's part of what we are; it's part of Irish life and we have got to try and bring people into rural areas."

These are the words of Cllr Enda Stenson, a former Leitrim County Board chairman, who spoke passionately about his love for Leitrim and the GAA and called for more to be done to encourage people to stay in Leitrim or move to the county and other rural areas. 

He was speaking after the GAA revealed a report this week warning of the decline of rural GAA clubs due to most of the population moving to the east or cities.

Cllr Stenson, who was chairman from 2019 until 2024, is a three-time Connacht final referee and is part of the association's National Demographic Committee, spoke about the report and the wider issues facing rural Leitrim such as low birth rates and declining populations. 

Cllr Stenson continued: "It's been sorely felt in rural Ireland, not just in Leitrim; in west Cavan, north Roscommon, parts of Sligo, Mayo, Galway - South Kerry is terribly hit. The report shows what lies ahead. 

"This is not just a GAA thing; it's a societal thing. We have been talking about this at local authority level for a long time; you close the Garda station, the national school, the pub is gone; there is nothing left in a place like Eslin, only the GAA pitch and a community centre. 

People have moved to the east coast of Ireland in huge numbers. Low birth numbers are another issue and national schools are showing that now right across the whole country."

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He spoke of an initiative, driven by then-Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy, to move government departments and agencies out of Dublin to regional towns. "There is a big office on the Dublin Road out of Carrick-on-Shannon built for that but it's still empty; why not bring a department down to Carrick-on-Shannon? We have a train, we're going to have great road system; but we need bodies on the ground and without that, we can't survive and won't survive. This issue will get worse if action isn't taken."

He continued that the GAA is now "shouting stop" and stressed that in Leitrim, "I would hate to see a club dying; any club. When that jersey is never put on again, that's a very sad situation. It's the final death knell in any community if the GAA goes. Two thirds of the population are living in a line from Belfast down to Wexford but only 18% of the clubs are inside of that line; the rest of them are in rural areas. There are large parts of Galway, Mayo right up to Leitrim, Cavan and Donegal; there are huge areas that are facing massive decline. It takes five clubs within South Kerry to form an underage team at this stage. There is only one player from the whole south Kerry area on the county Senior team."

He added: "This report is all about trying to make people sit up and notice what is happening and how important the GAA is as part of our society. We need help. We need more industries and we need departments. We need housing of course, but I think that can be resolved with the proper will but we need people here. This is not just a GAA issue; this is a societal issue."

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He continued that the national school in Eslin closed as did the post office and the shop. "The church is only open once or twice a month now. We have a GAA club; a junior team and are fighting and struggling to keep a team on the field. The numbers are not there. It is all about keeping communities alive."

He said he was hopeful that the report would shock those in charge into action to protect and nurture rural communities. "We worked for two solid years on that report and I just hope that it's not left to gather dust somewhere on a shelf and that someone will take notice at a high level and realise we have to get people out of Dublin. People can work easily from Leitrim. We need to revitalise areas like Leitrim so people can work from there. Most local authorities, there are people working from home part-time. That's where the government needs to come into play and they are not doing society any favours."