While Sky's deal with the GAA garnered mass publicity of the last few weeks, the renewal of TG4's current schedule passed by largely unnoticed. They have now become part of the furniture when it comes to media involvement with the GAA but that hasn't stopped one TV critic in the west from lamenting their coverage.
Declan Tierney, writes a column for The Connacht Sentinel and this week he had a few choice words about GAA Beo:
Granted he goes a terrible way about making his point, and referring to TG4 as 'our own foreign language station' is ridiculous but allow me to play Devil's advocate for a moment. Around 120,000 people speak Irish on a daily basis. The GAA have been taken to task over giving rights to Sky, and both RTÉ and TV3's coverage have received its fair share criticism but is it right that the majority of GAA matches shown on television every year are in a language most people aren't fluent in?
Obviously this is a complex issue but should the commentary be in English? Or maybe they could sort out a red button type method of providing commentary in both languages?
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hat-tip: Cormac O'Malley and Carty
