A GAA research project focussing on the economic impact of Gaelic Games in Ireland is expected to present an “advocacy document” to Croke Park in October.
The research is being led by three universities - Sheffield Hallam, Ulster University and Manchester Metropolitan University – and will provide the GAA with the “unvarnished truth” of its worth to Irish society.
Headed up by Professor Simon Shibli of Sheffield Hallam University, one key element of the research is grappling with the vast area of GAA volunteerism and placing a monetary value on it to local communities across the island.
“[It’s] a relatively new area of economics where what you’re trying to do is to put a monetary value on something which doesn’t really have a market value,” Professor Shibli says.
Arguably the greatest challenge facing the GAA is the national integration of the Camogie and Ladies football bodies and the financial ramifications.
In many ways, the research project is trying to make the Association realise its worth and contribution to a cohesive, modern society.
Since 2004, Professor Shibli has been Director of the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, a role which centres on the economics of sport and leisure.
Shibli has carried out similar work in other sports including golf, tennis, boxing and motorsport – and has been fascinated by the unique nature of the GAA given how it’s woven into the fabric of community life up and down the country.
Shibli became friends with fellow academic and former Antrim hurler Dr Paul Donnelly who brought the Englishman to several big GAA games - including the 2015 All-Ireland Senior hurling final between Kilkenny and Galway - and he was duly blown away by the experience.
“I experienced for myself that this wasn’t just a sporting event,” Shibli explains. “This was something that transcended sport. It was cultural, social, and probably had an element of religion to it.
“But I could just tell from being in Dublin, the feel about the place that this was something else. And, therefore, I’ve been fascinated with Gaelic Games ever since.
“There is this feeling and fervour and sense of common purpose and pride in what was happening that I have not really felt at any other sporting occasion.”
The research, which was commissioned by the GAA at the beginning of this year, enabled Shibli to attend the Ulster Senior Football final between Armagh and Donegal in Clones and the Munster Senior Hurling final between Limerick and Clare in Thurles in June.
“We’re still going through the data, but when the [research] team came back, one quote that stands out from a business that we interviewed, said: “It’s like having a second Christmas because we do three times the takings, we would ordinarily because of the [Munster] hurling final.”
Shibli cites the emergence of walking tracks and gyms that are open to the public in GAA clubs and the health and wellbeing benefits to the wider community.
The professor has also been granted access to the accounts of several hundred GAA clubs which has given the research significantly more layers and statistical evidence.
“One of the weirder and more nerdier things that I have done is wade through the accounts of the GAA: the provinces, the 32 counties and in excess of 500 separate clubs.
“This gives me a sense of the economic scale of them, but it also gives me insight into the kinds of activities that they’re involved in.
“For example, you wouldn’t see bingo sessions being organised in British sports clubs, and you know the demographic of people who play bingo is very different to those who play Gaelic Games. You wouldn’t see clubs [in Britain] investing in things like walking tracks, which are increasingly common in the GAA.
“You wouldn’t see things like Crechés and you’re also seeing many clubs invest in gyms which are open to the public…”
“[In club accounts] You’ll see expenditure for wreaths and expenditure for wedding presents, which is something I’ve never seen before in the accounts of sports clubs, and that tells me there’s something greater than just being a club at which people play a team sport.
“There is some sense of place, of belonging, of community cohesion that makes Gaelic Games.”
He adds: “What has always fascinated me about Gaelic Games is that it’s more than just that.
“There are things that research hasn’t touched on in the past. For example, the promotion and preservation of culture, heritage and language.”
While Shibli has been moved by the volunteering aspects of the GAA, his research must carry the currency of hard evidence rather than producing “flowery PR figures that a fellow academic will drive a coach and horses through”.
When the GAA reaches the funding table with government, especially in light of the extra money needed to safeguard the successful move to integration with Camogie and Ladies football, the in-depth research carried out by the three universities is expected to strength its bidding muscle.
“It will be very supportive information to underpin the proposed integration of the three bodies - the GAA, the Camogie Association and the Ladies Gaelic Football Association,” Shibli acknowledges.
“When I’ve got what I’ve got, it’s then how we tell the story and how we can defend the conclusions that we are reaching.
“How the GAA uses that subsequently is their business, but it’s always flattering for us when, clients use their data in a way that enables them to get a better return on their investment.”