Throughout the country, GAA clubs remain to be pillars of the community. They offer an outlet to young and old alike, giving the locals a common cause and something to become invested in.
While that may be especially in rural areas, there is also a huge amount of great work being done in urban centres. These towns or cities may have more variety to offer young people in terms of the sports available, but those involved in Gaelic games in the area are putting in a huge amount to ensure their communities go from strength to strength.
St James' GAA Club in Galway is a prime example.
Based on the east side of Galway City, they are the only senior football club in that part of Ireland's fourth largest urban area. They are also a relatively new club, having only been formed in 1994 after the amalgamation of rivals Mervue and Renmore.
With both teams struggling to retain players, they opted to put rivalries aside in order to ensure that the sport could have a strong base in the east of the city.
With promotion to the senior ranks achieved in 2010, and a Ladies team having also been formed in the intervening years, the club has gone from strength to strength.
Certainly an example that many clubs around the country could look to aspire to.
St James' are part of the Sports Direct grassroots GAA support programme, which sponsors 11 clubs across the island of Ireland.
The expansion of their grassroots GAA support in Ireland is a firm statement of intent by Sports Direct to continue to build and maintain grassroot level activity to help create a positive impact on local communities. They firmly believe in the important role that sport plays in our local communities and harnessing future achievements.
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