Cork County Council agrees to write to Croke Park over broadcasting of GAA games on GAAGO

CORK County Council has agreed to send a letter to Croke Park outlining the frustrations of their members at the continued broadcasting of GAA games on the subscription service GAAGO which is co-owned by the GAA and RTÉ.

The broadcasting of the enthralling Munster championship hurling clash between Cork and Tipperary on GAAGO earlier this summer attracted much criticism from people who were dismayed the game was not broadcast live on a free-to-air TV channel.

This subsequently led to councillors agreeing to write to the Cork County Board expressing their dissatisfaction with the broadcasting deal on behalf of their constituents.

A reply to this letter from the Cork County Board secretary/CEO Kevin O’Donovan was conveyed to the councillors at last Monday’s full county meeting. 

Mr O’Donovan stated in the letter that it is a ‘national’ GAA matter and not under the remit of the Cork County Board.

He said it is ‘important’ to note that GAAGO provides a platform for numerous GAA games.

“There is room for further improvement on the technical side, notwithstanding the fact that poor broadband in some areas has left some viewers disenfranchised. 

"However, it is important to note that GAAGO provides a platform for numerous games, which could not be seen otherwise, as the free-to-air screening of all games is simply not practical or financially prudent," he said.

He continued: 

“Key GAA games throughout the championship season which are of national interest and play a huge role in the promotion of our games, such as Cork v Tipperary this year, would perhaps be best screened on free to air to ensure the maximum exposure.

“Of course, the importance of these games can vary depending on the current status of the respective teams and decisions must be made on which games to screen without the benefit of hindsight,” he added.

Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Carroll said the Cork County Board must make stronger representation with the GAA Central Council. 

“The County Board must be our County Board. It is their duty to make representation to the Central Council on our behalf expressing the dissatisfaction all over the county. 

"It is certainly not working for most of rural Ireland."

"It is the place of the delegates to raise it with the Central Council.” 

“The GAA was based on volunteers,” said Cllr Carroll. 

“Fair play to Croke Park if they want to make money from holding concerts, but they shouldn’t be making it off the back of the volunteers who put the GAA there. 

"They should be doing everything in their power to put the games at their disposal for free."

"It is not good enough for people to be told they must go to a pub to watch the games.” 

Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty proposed writing to Croke Park HQ with their concerns. 

This was seconded by his party colleague Kevin Murphy who said it is a national issue. 

“The actual response is quite poor. This is a national issue. It should go straight up to national headquarters.” 

The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Frank O’Flynn said he will also mention the issue with the County Board on behalf of the councillors.