*John Conlon catches the sliotar as it breaks from David McInerney and Gearoid Hegarty. Photograph: Gerard O’Neill
RTÉ have come under fire for failing to show the Munster hurling epic between Clare and Limerick over the weekend.
Brian Lohan’s side brought their championship aspirations back to life by recording a one point win over Limerick, the first defeat experienced by John Kiely’s All-Ireland champions in seventeen championship games.
Widely viewed as the game of the championship so far, the meeting in the Gaelic Grounds was only available to view on GAAGO, a subscription based sports channel. The clash was not shown live on RTÉ and their new highlights show, The Saturday Game did not air in the aftermath of the contest.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) criticised the state broadcaster. “I think RTÉ have got this totally wrong, people in Kilkenny, Cork and Galway are talking about how good Clare and Limerick were, it was a thriller. For RTÉ to turn down a game like this was a disgrace”.
Ennis based Daly believed part of the licence fee should ensure RTÉ are forced to promote the GAA. “I’ve met a lot of people on Sunday and Monday since the match, they were very disappointed that the match was not shown on RTÉ, they are paying their licence fee. We saw the Munster final last year, there’s no doubt that it was the best hurling game of the year, it was a thriller and it was expected that there would be a similar situation this time yet RTÉ failed to show it, they showed the Waterford and Cork match and Kilkenny versus Galway, they left out the big one. The potential is always there, it’s like Cork and Kerry in football, Clare and Limerick are two rival counties side by side, a thriller was expected and I’d say RTÉ are kicking themselves”.
For €80, supporters can avail of GAAGO for the year, the service has replaced Sky Sports as part of a new broadcasting deal with the GAA. “I believe GAAGO is only a money racket, why not leave the rights with Sky Sports and more than likely the game would have been covered, people are paying licence fees and now they have to pay to get to watch the match,” the former Mayor of Clare added.
Feargal McGill, Director of Club, Player and Games Administration at GAA, speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime defended the decision. “Between GAAGO and RTÉ, we will be broadcasting way more and I mean way more live championship matches this year than ever before in the history of the GAA. There are more games available, there is nothing unusual, there have always been games which weren’t on television, at least now they are available on GAAGO. We would have had the same criticism when Sky Sports were our broadcasting partners, I think GAAGO represents massive value for people”.
McGill admitted that he himself watched the match on GAAGO. “Our primary function as a sporting body is to encourage people to go to games rather than sit at home and watch them on television, obviously not everyone can get to games, we get that but we honestly think we’ve put together a great package and opportunities for people. One of the learnings of COVID was every County Board set up a streaming service to show games”.
In a statement, RTÉ explained that the scheduling of The Saturday Game highlights show which is fronted by Damien Lawlor is based on the amount of top tier hurling and football championship games on each weekend. “All decisions relating to coverage remain under consideration and subject to review at season end,” the statement outlined.
Clare’s meeting with Kerry in the Munster senior football final will be broadcast live on RTÉ Two this Sunday.
