The subject of David McWilliams column today is how the GAA transfer index shows a growing trend of immigration from Ireland.

According to the GCTI, emigration is on the increase from all over Ireland and it is recurring in precisely the age group that we need most — our young, fit people. What makes the change in the index all the more startling, is the dramatic turnaround in fortunes between the beginning of the year and now. In January, not one club player transferred to a club outside Ireland. This month, over one third of all transfers involved lads leaving the country and signing up for clubs in New York and London.

Ok so I decided to look at the figures.

As you can see January Is usually very quiet and the sumer months quiet busy. Jan 2004, Jan 2007 and Jan 2008 are all quiet low, indeed Jan 2004 when we would be in the middle of the boom was busiest. The reason I guess has a lot to do with young people going abroad for the summer and playing in a GAA club in New York, London or Oz. Suggesting that the difference between Jan 2008 and summer 2008 is plain silly and a abuse of statistics. It is simply following the trend of Summer being more busy then January. Indeed in absolute terms Jun and july 2007 saw 235 people move abroad while Jun July 2008 saw 223 people move. Basically there is nothing statistically significant in these figures to show an increase in immigration.