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A REVIEW OF which sporting and cultural events should be available on free-to-air television in Ireland has been announced by government.
Under current legislation, a review of which events are deemed of “major importance to society’ and should be broadcast is undertaken every three years.
In 2011, Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte decided the current list of Designated Events was sufficient and it remained unchanged.
It currently consists of:
These are earmarked for ‘live coverage’, while Ireland’s games in the Six Nations Rugby Football Championship are also contained on the list on a “deferred basis”, meaning they can be broadcast at a later date.
“It is important that national events which are of great significance to Ireland be shown free to air and be available for us all to enjoy,” Minister Rabbitte said.
I would urge all interested parties and members of the public to submit their views to my Department, which I will ensure are considered and will assist me in making my decision.
Fine Gael TD and Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications, John O’Mahony said the recent Sky GAA deal highlights the importance of free-to-air programming.
“I believe that provincial GAA finals should be designated as free to air and this process enables us to ensure that such events are designated accordingly,” he said.
State broadcaster RTÉ came under fire this week for its decision to not show live coverage of the National Special Olympics, taking place in Limerick this month.
“In a time when we say we want to promote equality and inclusion in our country,” Labour Senator Mary Moran said, “I feel we owe it to our 1,500 athletes, to the 3000 volunteers and the thousands of spectators and family members who will attend the games.”
Ryle Nugent, Group Head of Sport at RTÉ, said that the state broadcaster recognised the “importance of the games” but has never broadcast them live, citing a lack of resources.
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The Six Nations Rugby matches
He could do away with live broadcasting the Labour Party Ard Fheis.
Sky can have the rights to the eurovision
The resignation of Rabbitte
RTÉ should have the rights to EVERY Republic of Ireland soccer match, including friendlies.
But the irish soccer team is rubbish.
Boring, low-scoring girls game.
Agreed. In the majority of years in last 2 decades, the most watched sports events on TV are ROI matches.
Irish Open Golf maybe.
The Champions League Final should be added.
Sorry, the Champions League Final is already included – under #4.
How is that of national importance? It isnt like any irish teams will be playing ever.
The Champions League final isn’t included in the list.
Only the Ireland games in the World Cup and European Championships plus the opening games, the semi-finals and final of the European Football Championship Finals and the FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament are on the list.
Fair City omnibus, and TG4 weather girls.
European and World Championship finals in women’s boxing at 60kg…
Celtic league rugby. Also showing sports on TG4 is a great way to get people listening to some Irish.
Yep defo the 4 provinces .
Disagree with ya! There should be an English language commentary option. Trying to bully Irish on to people with no interest only serves to push them further from it. But that’s a different debate!
If Irish team are playing a Welsh team then I watch on S4C due to the Red button English commentary.
Let’s talk about this instead of reality!
What does that mean?
The World Championship Turkey Plucking Final. (Irish title holder).
The televised inquisition into the Mothers and Baby homes.
The season finale of Made in Chelsea. Just to keep the West Brits happy.
The Special Olympics in Limerick should have been on this weekend but hey who cares when RTE squander money on showing every match for a cup which we didn’t qualify for … Go figure.. Anyway my sister won 2 gold medals and I have it all on video but it would have great if it had been on TV for all her friends to see it as many couldn’t travel..
Agree Brian RTE should have shown Special Olympics but, we get the usual reply …lack of resources ….. shame on you ‘national broadcaster’ ……… congratulations to your sister … she is a Special Olympic Champion twice over.
I agree that the special Olympics is a great event and it would be lovely for family to see the participants on tv. But would the general public tune in? You argue about the state broadcaster showing a football tournament that Ireland are not even in but this is an event that hundreds of thousands of Irish will watch, with viewing figures in the millions in Ireland over the course of the tournament.
The events that are protected by the state broadcaster are those that are important to Ireland and also generally the most watched. As harsh as it may seem I can understand why RTE don’t show special Olympics coverage.
Tallafornia
Anyone for a culchie version of Tallafornia? Applicants for Monte Carlow now being accepted.
RTÉ should really have a third channel added that only shows sport, it would lead to much more exposure for home grown athletes in some of the less populate sports, I’d rather watch some young up and coming irish sport star at their chosen game than fair city or any of that crap that RTÉ, TV3, etc pump out!!!
Spot on there.
The long overdue public hanging of the cabinet.
Documentaries following the likes of Seany and Drum as they take up job bridge schemes in fast food outlets.
Nothing should be reserved for any particular broadcaster. It is a free market and all sports events should go to the highest bidder. To do otherwise is to deprive a sport of revenue in order to protect the finances of one particular broadcaster.
I don’t think they are reserved for RTE, just that they are available Free-to-Air.
But TBH if given an option I don’t watch TV3 sports broadcast as I find their production values to be very poor in comparison to their rivals (not just talking about RTE)
Is the Rabbitte trying to pull a stunt here …. trying to get back into our good books after the drubbing at the Locals ??? All he has done since he took office is close Post Offices and back the most savage austerity measures ever imposed on the people of this country while telling us that “isn’t this what one tends to do before an election”. Now he is trying to come up with a sweetener and divert attention!!!! Crawl back into your burrow Mr Rabbitte and sit tight for the arrival of your huge pension.
Is the EEC telling him to let the people know what,s going on in the world or are we being controlled like those people in Korea ,whatever
the GAA championships were on the list and now sky have games, so what’s the point ?
The championship is not on the list. Only the senior all-Ireland finals
Major boxing championships- The worlds and europeans. It would be nice to watch some of our finest athletes on a more regular basis, so they get the recognition they deserve.
All of them
What about festival shows like Electric Picnic without having to watch them on Sky Arts? It doesn’t have to be all sports (even though they make up the majority of what I’d want to see). Plus remove the “deferred basis” from the rugby. We have a phenomenal team who always do well.
And what about adding the senior football & hurling qualifier matches to the list instead of just the finals. That’s like starting to watch a tv series by watching the final episode of the series. I also like the idea of including the Irish Open into the viewing schedule. We have a lot of great golfers in this country. Who know’s how many potential great golfers we have out there who have not been exposed to the sport!
The Rugby World Cup
I think they should show the Special Olympics
have your say