GAA officials have identified attracting and retaining volunteers as a significant priority for the association in 2026.
The organisation's Social Return on Investment study has highlighted how the value of GAA volunteering to Irish society stands at €1billion per annum.
However, it is feared that due to increased time and heavy administrative demands, economic pressures, and societal changes, fewer people are now willing to take on key roles with their club or county.
Some weeks ago, Peter Twiss, secretary of Kerry GAA, was the latest to outline his concern how ever-expanding demands on volunteers in a world where spare time is being continuously squeezed will lead to increased burnout and a big fall-off in numbers.
The GAA's Planning and Training Committee chairperson David Denieffe is also acutely aware of the threat of reduced numbers of people helping their clubs and counties but says the association is facing up to the challenges ahead.
"The real power in the GAA is the volunteers," he says.
"The fact that we've so many volunteers with different types of experiences is crucial.
"The breadth of abilities and capabilities we have in the organisation helps to empower our clubs and we need to keep getting the best out of what we do for our clubs and communities."
In his 2025 annual report, GAA director general Tom Ryan also highlighted his concern that volunteering is wavering in modern Ireland.
"Our voluntary ethos and our community values elevate us and make us unique," Ryan said. "Those are our most important characteristics, and they need to be valued, protected and promoted.
"Everybody is pressed for time, and everybody is racing somewhere. The idea of devoting a precious hour or two for the benefit of somebody else often doesn’t even occur to us.
"The consequence is evident in counties and in clubs when it comes to appointing officers with some positions becoming hard to fill. We see it informally in clubs when it comes to simply getting things done.
"The same small cohort of people are relied upon to do more than their share. Increasingly, club volunteers get involved while their children are active in the club, but step aside afterwards. That’s completely understandable but it is a real pity to lose somebody in whom we have invested time and effort, and vice versa.
"And it is always easier to retain somebody than to recruit anew. This poses issues for the GAA on numerous levels. Our very identity is voluntary, that is where our leadership emanates from, and the volume and scale of our mission means we simply cannot operate without volunteers. Our present, let alone our future, depends upon attracting and retaining volunteers."
For the 2026 season and beyond, the GAA has decided to prioritise a strategy to make sure every volunteer feels valued, supported, and can contribute meaningfully to the association.
There are three key objectives including the modernisation of structures, maintaining a clear understanding of the volunteer experience and sustaining a highly engaged and well-equipped volunteer network.
Next month a significant part of the GAA’s inaugural club summit will focus on these objectives and address the challenges facing volunteers.
The summit will present five core areas to help members with development of games, running of clubs, support of people, enhancement of facilities and importance of contributing to the community.
Specific workshops, seminars, interactive forums and networks are on the agenda at the event which takes place on 7 February with input from high profile names like Declan Hannon, Conor McManus, Peter Canavan, Liam Sheedy, Denise Masterson, Diane O’Hora and Ursula Jacob.
The summit takes place ahead of the anticipated publication of the GAA’s Amateur Status Review report which will call for a stand to be taken against the payment for roles that threaten the ethos of volunteerism.
Findings will explain how costs associated with preparing inter-county teams have risen by over 100% across the last decade, with time demands on players and volunteers now at unsustainable levels.
The GAA remain highly concerned that a creep towards payment – either overt or covert – for roles that were always previously unpaid is not only causing financial pressure but eroding the volunteer effort that the association was built on.
