Replying To gunman: "What is a small club.Is it population,interest tradition,success or what.Your own club has a huge population to pick from viz Newton,Killea,St Johnstone,Carrigans and I presume the Parish of Drumoghill i.e Manor as well.As you say you won Ulster Ulster in 2017 which means talent comes in cycles.But looking in from the outside I would say your biggest problem is lack of tradition and a big number of soccer clubs.People talk about the system they have in Kerry but Kerrys biggest thing is the tradition and interest they have.In an area like yours or Lifford it would take a lot of work from a lot of dedicated people to change things.Big Senior clubs like Kilcar and Naomh Connaill would have far less of a population than some of the "mini clubs"."
I'd say keeping players involved beyond the age of 16 seems is the biggest headache for a lot of clubs in North and East Donegal, as there tends to be a massive drop off in participation after mid-teens.
I would say the percentage of the local Community heavily interested in the local club in places like Newtowncunningham, Lifford, Castlefin, Killygordon etc isn't at the same levels as similar sized villages/towns like Kilcar, Glenties/Fintown or Dunfanaghy/Cresslough. It probably is down to options to play other sports like Soccer etc, whereas if you live in Kilcar or Glenties etc, Gaelic football is probably the only option.