Number of young people taking up GAA in UK increases by 28%

A growing number without connections to Ireland are starting to take part.

With the bump in percentage, the total number of participants in the association has risen to 4,593.

In London alone during that period the number of participants rose by 20% to 1,975.

Several newcomers still have connections to Ireland, however, many of those joining have no heritage linked to Ireland.

Speaking to RTÉ's London correspondent Tommy Meskill, Cormac Duffy, community development administrator with London GAA said: "Clubs are realising now that they need to develop their own home-grown players.

"The volume of Irish people coming over to Britain isn't what it was in the past. I think clubs are realising that in 10, 15, 20 years time they will need to develop their own players

Of the 27 London clubs, 14 have underage sides, with 50 across Britain fielding underage teams.

The sport has even made its way onto the PE curriculum in some schools, such as Cardinal Wiseman Catholic School.

Gaelic football has been a part of the school's curriculum for a decade.

The school's deputy head teacher Ann Marie McLoughlin told RTÉ that the game has "transferrable skills with football, rugby and basketball."

The Irish Ambassador to Great Britain Martin Fraser visited the school and said it is "very good" for Irish culture to be alive and well in London.

He said: "It is now a shared sport across the two islands. Obviously it's our national sport at home, north and south.

"There's a lot of people in Britain who came over and played Gaelic games over the decades.

"Now we're into the new generations, first and second generation kids, indeed kids with connections to Ireland playing GAA.

"It's very good to keep our cultural tradition alive here in London, we've contributed so much to this city."