The BBC should be ashamed

[SammyG]

Oh dear, not like you to spout Fearonesque bullshit. 

What do you mean? I thought this episode was pretty well known. Is this not also why he is despised on OWC?

The only 'episode' that I'm aware of with Jerome was when he turned up at WP in a GAA shirt to try and get a reaction. He didn't get a reaction so decided to spout some shite instead and has since backtracked. As far as being despised on OWC, I haven't even seen him mentioned in the last 2 or 3 years.

[GweylTah]

If the BBC broadcast even more gaelic games coverage, it could well breach its equality guidelines - well over half the population isn't the least bit interested in it, as it feels excluded by its ethos and aims.

The little matter of the GAA having sold most of its rights to other broadcasters has already been well made but the usual suspects seem to expect the BBC can just flout the law and broadcast what it wants regardless.  Such silliness!

[Uladh]

Broadcasting rights are not required for previews, reports, reaction, features and magazine programs. If David (i speak really slowly and deliberately to make sure i pronounce words correctly) Jeffries changes his tie it takes up 3 of the 5 min sports bulletin in the evenings.

[magickingdom]

Attendance - it would be beaten by motorsports and if you leave out a few 'big' matches it would be at least equalled by football and rugby

wtf? why dont you just leave out the ones that dont suit, yere good at that

[Deal_Me_In]

Attendance - it would be beaten by motorsports and if you leave out a few 'big' matches it would be at least equalled by football and rugby

How do you make this out ravenhill can hold 16000 and windsor 20500 (and how ofen are these sell outs?), yet there was 17500 at both casement and newry on sunday for a first round clash not to mention the number of people who attended club matches in armagh, tyrone and fermanagh on sunday clearly demonstrates just how popular gaelic football is in comparison to rugby and soccer

[T Fearon]

In fairness to the BBC, Eamon Coleman's death was the lead and highlighted topic on BBC Ceefax Regional news (ie p160 teletext) and also on the Regional Sports News (P390) on Monday night, which is how I learned about it. The BBC does now give in my opinion fair and adequate coverage to GAA and indeed FAI Affairs, reflecting proportionately the interest and [preferences of its licence holders.

Once again I feel you're all missing the target here. Consider the dearth of GAA Coverage (also I can find no mention of the death on their website) given by the Belfast Telegraph, which styles itself arrogantly as "Northern Ireland's National Newspaper". I have yet to see GAA being allocated headline coverage on the backpage. Consider also that this paper is owned by that great Irish man, Anthony O'Reilly, and its recently appointed Managing Director is allegedly a gaelic fanatic from Dublin. I wrote to this person nearly three months ago complaining about its GAA coverage. I still await a response or acknowledgement.

Also their former Sports Editor (shunted recently into the oblivion of editing the failing morning edition of the Telegraph, is a catholic from Ballymena, and far from giving GAA its due coverage, he was actually critical of the GAA in his banal column on numerous occasions

It is to Royal Avenue, not Ormeau Avenue, you should be directing your ire.

[Donagh]

The Tele is a rag. Anyone who buys it gets the rubbish they deserve. The BBC on the other hand is paid for by us all and the GAA should be getting fair treatment.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

...by that great Irish man, Anthony O'Reilly...

Now there's a contradiction in terms! 

[tbrick18]

Sammy, every NI soccer match is broadcast live on tv as is the cup final

So now you've moved the goalposts to include intenationals  OK lets go with your ridiculous comparison,that's approx 4-5 a year live, how would showing 8 live GAA matches be 'parity'. And remember that the GAA had blanket live coverage before they sold the rights to Setanta, which is hardly the BBC's fault.

and you have a sports magazine during the week

Which covers football, GAA, rugby, ice hockey and anything else that's happening

and live matches on Radio Ulster FM.

When?

The GAA as the most popular sport in the north by some distance, should have the same,

By what measure is the GAA the most 'popular'.

Participation - it would be beaten by angling, golf, football, and probably rugby.
Attendance - it would be beaten by motorsports and if you leave out a few 'big' matches it would be at least equalled by football and rugby

and given the huge part the GAA has played in terms of providing community infrastructure, the BBC as a public service broadcaster should be acknowledging this by helping us promote the games.

I don't see how the BBC can't do much more to help 'promote' your games. Given that you sold the rights to a different company, the BBC actually give you loads of coverage.

First point....participation....I come from a small South Derry club....we have 380 club members who participate in football, hurling, camogie and ladies football. There are at least a dozen teams in South Derry. Perhaps two dozen in all of Derry. So taking an average of even 250 members per club, in Derry alone there are 6000 participants. Just count the six counties and you are talking over 30,0000 participants. I would hazard a guess that is a lot more than particpate in "real football" (real my arse...they're never done pulling up their socks and fixing their hair or rolling around pretending to cry).

Secondly....attendances....any Senior Club Football League game in derry easily attracts a hundred or more supporters. Championship games in Derry easily 5-6 thousand. And as has already been mentioned 17,500 at a first round county match last weekend. Now take into account all codes, football, camogie, hurling and ladies football. Add up the attendances for those. Easily in one year just across the 6 counties there are 10 times larger attendances in total at all gaelic games than at any of these "real football" matches.

Now that is pretty simple maths. In that regard, the coverage given to gaelic games should in fairness be more extensive than that given to soccer.

[GweylTah]

Local association football (and rugby and other sports for that matter) competes with football played at a much higher level in the Premiership, Football League, Scottish Premier League and various overseas leagues.

Gaelic games doesn't. The games are often exciting and there's a real community feel, but the levels of skill and so on could, in actual fact, be pretty meagre, as there's no world stage to compare with.

So, comparing gaelic games with the other sports isn't comparing like for like - the amount of shinty or curling shown on Scottish TV would be more appropriate.

A more usful comparison might be that the exclusivist GAA gets hours and hours of coverage on BBC TV (probably as much as the rights allow) whereas the Prods get just an hour of live coverage of the Twelfth once a year.

[stew]

Local association football (and rugby and other sports for that matter) competes with football played at a much higher level in the Premiership, Football League, Scottish Premier League and various overseas leagues.

Gaelic games doesn't. The games are often exciting and there's a real community feel, but the levels of skill and so on could, in actual fact, be pretty meagre, as there's no world stage to compare with.

So, comparing gaelic games with the other sports isn't comparing like for like - the amount of shinty or curling shown on Scottish TV would be more appropriate.

A more usful comparison might be that the exclusivist GAA gets hours and hours of coverage on BBC TV (probably as much as the rights allow) whereas the Prods get just an hour of live coverage of the Twelfth once a year.

The only way you or anyone else is excluded from gaelic games is if you want to be excluded gweyltah and you clearly do yet here you sit day after day pontificating on the association and it's games.

as for mentioning the  twelfth in the same sentence as gaelic games you should be ashamed of yourself and the one hour you claim the beeb gives the marchers is an hour too much. When I see those hate filled knackers on my screen I just want to puke, they remind me of the klan the way they strut around the north with arrogance and bile.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

A more usful comparison might be that the exclusivist GAA gets hours and hours of coverage on BBC TV (probably as much as the rights allow) whereas the Prods get just an hour of live coverage of the Twelfth once a year.

Here we go again, the wizened old 'exclusionist' GAA chestnut is wheeled out as a device, in this instance, to elevate a nakedly sectarian organisation such as the OO to the same elevated sporting plane as the GAA. Not surprising to me that your posts too are an immediate avert-eyes-and-ignore (with this obvious exception)!  If an Orangeman marries a Taig he's an ex-Orangeman, never heard of anyone in the GAA being ejected for fraternising with non-Catholics, hell we've even had exalted non-Catholic individuals as presidents, and thankfully! And spare me the detail about your sensitivities being offended by the trappings of the GAA, at least we're open to suggestions from the inside and outside on how to be more appealing to all, not open to suggestions only from the inside on how to be even more exclusionist!

[An Fear Rua]

so didnt we let one of themuns play for Down in the 90s.

shouldnt GAA be the headline sport on the channel during the summer months, seeing as there not a lot going on with the other sports with relatively decent audiences? obv there will be exceptions to this rule, say when one of the ladies hockey team wins a prize at the Ulster Young Farmers ball... ;-)

[Evil Genius]

Once again I feel you're all missing the target here. Consider the dearth of GAA Coverage (also I can find no mention of the death on their website) given by the Belfast Telegraph, which styles itself arrogantly as "Northern Ireland's National Newspaper". I have yet to see GAA being allocated headline coverage on the backpage. Consider also that this paper is owned by that great Irish man, Anthony O'Reilly, and its recently appointed Managing Director is allegedly a gaelic fanatic from Dublin. I wrote to this person nearly three months ago complaining about its GAA coverage. I still await a response or acknowledgement.

Also their former Sports Editor (shunted recently into the oblivion of editing the failing morning edition of the Telegraph, is a catholic from Ballymena, and far from giving GAA its due coverage, he was actually critical of the GAA in his banal column on numerous occasions

It is to Royal Avenue, not Ormeau Avenue, you should be directing your ire.

Does this mean that this anti-GAA rag which no-one should buy, read or otherwise support failed to publish your latest letter then? 


Anyhow, on the general point of this thread, does the fact that the soccer boys feel the BBC gives too much coverage to GAA and not enough to their own sport, whilst the GAA boys feel it gives too much air-time to soccer and not enough to their own sports, not possibly mean that the Beeb are, in fact, getting it about right? Just a thought.

[ziggysego]

I'm not going to get into this debate. All I would say, I think it's disgraceful the someone used Eamon's death to start this debate.

People, leave it for another day.