If the GAA is to survive, people need to be let live where they belong
PROPERTY
Property Insights by Johnny Gannon, Fair Deal Property
Across rural Ireland, the GAA is not just a sport. It binds generations, defines parishes, and creates a deep-rooted sense of place far beyond the pitch. It is not something we follow, it is part of who we are, both depending upon and inspiring our communities.
But that continuity is now under pressure, and for reasons that are entirely avoidable.
In large parts of County Galway, particularly within areas influenced by the Galway County Transport and Planning Study, securing planning permission for one-off housing has become extremely difficult. While a limited number of applications are successful, many others, including those with deep local roots, family land, and a clear need to live locally are not so fortunate.
We are hearing this week about the sad case of a woman from Achill Island who wanted to build a modest retirement home on her own family land, to return home and live out her remaining years close to family, in the place she grew up. She was refused.
This raises a fundamental question: how can someone be told they cannot go home?
The planning system was designed to control development. In many ways, it does that effectively. But is does appear unfit to manage growth and sustain rural communities.
The issue is not just about people returning home. In many areas, it is also about who cannot come in. When local people face difficulty building, and new applicants encounter a total impasse, the effects on rural communities over time become devastating.
Are we, in trying to control development, slowly turning rural Ireland into a series of closed-shop communities, where locals struggle to stay, new families cannot settle, and the natural renewal that every community depends on is being cut off?
Rural Ireland has never been static. It has always evolved through the arrival of new people who became part of the fabric of local life. That process is essential for renewal.
When younger generations cannot settle locally, and when others cannot move in to replace or support them, the effects begin to show. School numbers decline. Local services weaken. And GAA clubs feel it, fewer players, fewer volunteers, fewer people to carry traditions forward.
This is not about removing planning rules or allowing unchecked development. It is about applying balance and common sense.
Because without homes, there are no communities. And without communities, there is no GAA.
For more visit www.fairdealproperty.ie.