TG4 will livestream eagerly anticipated Cork v Limerick hurling match

Fans of Cork GAA and the legions of hurling aficionados across the country who have not secured tickets to attend the eagerly anticipated clash between the Rebels and Limerick, held in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday evening, will be able to watch the match after all, after TG4 confirmed it will be streaming the game on its player.

The hurling action will be available to viewers across multiple platforms, with TG4’s live coverage beginning on the TG4 Player and TG4 App from 7.25pm on Saturday night, ahead of throw-in at 7.30pm.

More than 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the Division 1A tie in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh for the reprise of last summer’s standout fixture at the same venue during the Munster Championship.

The Irish-language broadcaster sought permission to show the match after it emerged that Cork County Board and RTÉ had failed to agree to show the match, as the broadcaster wanted to show the match at 6pm to avoid clashing with the Dublin v Donegal match — which TG4 had already committed to showing on its TV channel.

The throw-in for that match is also at 7.30pm.

Statement 

In a statement, a spokesperson for Cork County Board had said they could not accommodate RTÉ’s proposed earlier throw-in, as that would mean the broadcast of the hurling match would clash with Ireland’s match against England in the Six Nations, and they didn’t want to deprive rugby fans in Cork or Limerick of the opportunity to see both matches.

The head of sport at TG4, Rónán Ó Coisdealbha, had told The Echo on Tuesday that the Irish-language broadcaster was seeking to show the Cork v Limerick match on its player.

“It would be going out at the same time as Donegal v Dublin on TG4 [TV], and we’d be competing against ourselves in a way — but we don’t mind doing that as that’s what happens frequently on TG4,” he said.

Welcomed

In the statement released following a query from The Echo, spokesperson welcomed this as an option.

“Cork GAA would be delighted to see the game shown on any platform,” the spokesperson said.

Cork North-Central Sinn Féin TD Thomas Gould, who raised the lack of coverage of Cork matches across all codes in the RTÉ schedule already this week, welcomed TG4’s intervention which, he said, had saved the blushes of both the GAA and the national broadcaster.

“I want to be really positive about what TG4 has done here, as this means a lot more people will get to see the match.

“They seem to be the best public service broadcaster in terms of our games,” he added.

Cork advocate for the elderly Paddy O’Brien told The Echo that he would welcome the match being shown on the TG4 player as a compromise, but said that some might have difficulty with operating the player as opposed to the TV.