A GAA CLUB has highlighted the devastating effects of emigration on their squad — by picking a team made up entirely of players who have moved abroad.
Kilmovee Shamrocks of Mayo put together an “Emigrants XV” after forward Michéal Caulfield became the latest footballer to leave Ireland.
Caulfield has moved to Mexico while others who have left in the last three years now live as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Cyprus and the United Arab Emirates.
Kilmovee tweeted the picture on Saturday afternoon, drawing attention again to the decimation of rural clubs by the recession and high levels of youth emigration.
“Those guys are spread all over the world and quite a few of them will not be returning and that’s the sad fact of it,” club chairman John Roddy told TheScore.ie today.
“In our junior team we have guys up until 21, 22 when they finish college and then there’s a gap right up until early 30s where those boys have settled down or bought a house. They’re tied in, they can’t get out though I’m sure a lot of them would if they could.
“What annoys me is the government bring out the live register figures and they give you the impression that they’ve done something and they’ve created jobs because the figures are coming down.
“Of course they’re coming down when you see these young players leaving the country. There’s never reference made to that.”
