UTV & BBC & RTE & TV3

[omagh_gael]

Poor form Sludden, that's completely uncalled for.

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

Saffrongael & Sludden fully deserving of such a sanction.

[ONeill]

On another note, is the MacRory final the only provincial college final shown live?

[qubdub]

This whole regional/local argument is daft to be honest. The BBC NI news certainly isn't done on a 'regional' basis. More than enough news items are reported on that are of no regional interest or significance. Yet when 4,000 odd souls gather for a sporting event on Friday night in Armagh it doesn't warrant a mention, despite it involving one of the best GAA club sides of the modern era? Pull the other one boys.

[All of a Sludden]

Revealing a posters real name is a 15 day ban. I am not comfortable with the way this debate is being drawn out.

Any craic has never made a secret of who he is. 90% of his posts are links to either his facebook page or his website. You wouldn't need to be Jackie Fullerton to work out who he is.

[armaghniac]

I think the 'big' coverage of the BBC is often excellent. The 'small' mentions seem uneven. I suspect this may at least in part reflect a view of GAA as of great interest to some people, but of little general interest.

[All of a Sludden]

I think the 'big' coverage of the BBC is often excellent. The 'small' mentions seem uneven. I suspect this may at least in part reflect a view of GAA as of great interest to some people, but of little general interest.

I was at a Louth senior championship game this evening. It won't get a mention on RTE tomorrow. Should I complain?

[ONeill]

Revealing a posters real name is a 15 day ban. I am not comfortable with the way this debate is being drawn out.

Any craic has never made a secret of who he is. 90% of his posts are links to either his facebook page or his website. You wouldn't need to be Jackie Fullerton to work out who he is.

So do you want a bone or certificate? What's your point?

[Redhand Santa]

To me the news coverage including the Saturday sport on bbc1 isn't balanced. If you compared the time devoted to gaa compared to other sports it would be very low. It's obvious in the run up to big games. Big ulster or Ireland rugby games or ni soccer ones have build up all week. The all Ireland semi final involving tyrone and mayo which attracted 65000 only got a mention on the Friday.

Also the big club championship games attracting 1000s would in my opinion have more interest than an average Irish league game with a few hundred at it. The competitions also lead directly to the ulster and all Ireland series which removes the national or regional thing which was a weak argument anyway.

Not to mention the all Ireland hurling final is also a disgrace given the interest it generates across the country. I wonder would they have mentioned if Munster or Leinster were in the European cup final in rugby. Or if Celtic were in the champions legal final. Also Antrim take part in the competition so there is northern interest in it and given that its the final of a 32 county organisation which creates such interest it deserves a mention.

[Redhand Santa]

Another thing that annoys me is that if there'd been a fight at the cross game it would have moved from having no coverage to being top of the sports news.

[Tony Baloney]

Revealing a posters real name is a 15 day ban. I am not comfortable with the way this debate is being drawn out.

Even when the poster makes no secret of their real name?

[theticklemister]

Revealing a posters real name is a 15 day ban. I am not comfortable with the way this debate is being drawn out.

Any craic has never made a secret of who he is. 90% of his posts are links to either his facebook page or his website. You wouldn't need to be Jackie Fullerton to work out who he is.

I reckon Drici is Jackie Fullerton cause does all the latest scores.

[johnneycool]

I think the 'big' coverage of the BBC is often excellent. The 'small' mentions seem uneven. I suspect this may at least in part reflect a view of GAA as of great interest to some people, but of little general interest.

I was at a Louth senior championship game this evening. It won't get a mention on RTE tomorrow. Should I complain?

Yeah you should do if they decide to tell you how the Cork C of I mens hockey team did against Hermes when there was only one man and his dog watching it.

My only concern with the lack of GAA coverage by the BBC and UTV is how the GAA is perceived by the unionist majority hugging the east coast of the wee six. I'd regularly discuss GAA in work in front of all my work colleagues if there's another person in my company who's similarly interested. The odd time I'd be asked about it by some who've never had any exposure to GAA and they'd be surprised by the number of people who'd go and watch or even where there are club teams.

Just last week a lad from Holywood who knew I'd played a bit of hurling and who's wife's from Cork talked about the AI final and the atmosphere at it, some of the others in our company were shocked to hear that 80,000 people were at the game.
I joked that he could send his young fellas to play a bit of hurling in Holywood if they'd Cork blood in them, he didn't know there was any hurling in Holywood.

That perception within Unionist circles that somehow the GAA is a minority sport even within nationalist circles, played by hardline republicans needs to be broken, both by the GAA in Ulster and also our broadcaster who I pay taxes and license fee for.

[T Fearon]

This argument was valid 25 years ago, but I don't think it holds water today. BBC and UTV have a few minutes in their bulletins to cover a range of sports, so they can't include everything, and actual attendances at certain fixtures are irrelevant as there is a balancing act to be performed.

In terms of live sports coverage on the BBC, local bike, rugby and GAA enthusiasts are well looked after, and indeed the local soccer fraternity (with only one live match covered every year), have to make do with on online highlights package. Argument redundant.

[Any craic]

Are you sure of those facts? I take it the soccer game you are referring to the Irish Cup Final. Do the BBC not also broadcast Live coverage of some internationals & Milk Cup games? Maybe you're not counting this as local but it's still soccer. Plus, you say they have to 'make do' with online highlights, but sure there is a programme every Saturday at 5pm dedicated to showing as much local soccer as they can get in it, 40 weeks of the year. The goals are repeated online and on Newsline, not to mention midweek games in cups and league. They used to have a 50-50 arrangement with UTV for covering the Premier League but I gather UTV pulled out so BBC cover all PL games for the whole season.