Achievements of the GAA

The achievements of the Gaelic Athletic Association range from the preservation of Gaelic games that were in decline,to its modern status as a major influence in Irish sporting, cultural, and community life having over 800,000 members out of the island's population of six million.
Reversing the decline
The Gaelic games where saved from ultimate decline. Both Hurling and Gaelic football were standardised, albeit that both standardised games bore little resemblance to the original sports such as caid. This standardisation helped to spur the growth of the modern games since they were now being organised on a structured basis. The Gaelic games of hurling and football are also the most popular spectator sports in Ireland ,1,962,769 people attended GAA games in 2003

Cultural and community
The GAA is the largest amateur sports association in Ireland. It has more than 2,500 member clubs and runs about 500 grounds throughout the country.
The association is widespread in Ireland with one club in every parish. The presence the GAA has means that the GAA also has an impact on the sporting and cultural life of Ireland though it's Scór section. The association is recognised as a major generator of social capital thanks to its promotion of healthy pastimes, volunteering, and community involvement.

The GAA also provided an all-Ireland structure in which people could participate, both on a sporting and on an organisational level. This has helped to define a sense of local identity to such an extend that when the civil authorities feel the need to move county boundaries, many people object. The GAA still adheres to the original British-devised county system that no longer coincides with that used by local government, and yet it is the GAA county boundaries that people most identify with. The traditional Irish counties were largely a creation of British law such as County Londonderry, and some owed their origins to ancient Irish counties such as County Tyrone. The strenght of feeling for the county has also raise difficulty for the GAA such as when it was proposed to split Dublin into two ,the plan was strong rejected. Even though in terms of population it could sustain a number of teams.

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