Write a commentAssembly Member for Newry and Armagh Justin McNulty MLA has said questions must be asked of the BBC as it pays £173M to take over UKTV from Discovery.
Mr McNulty said, ‘For the past number of years I have been lobbying hard to have improved coverage of Gaelic Games on BBC Television. It has been one of the most frustrating experiences I have been involved in as an elected representative.’
‘Gaelic football is the single biggest sport in Ulster when comparing to soccer, rugby and all the other sports combined and yet the coverage by BBC is abysmal. Those who follow Gaelic games be that football, hurling, camogie or ladies football are television licence payers too and yet we get virtually nothing in return.’
As RTE and SKY Television launch their schedule for 2019 out of all the games in the Championship they are showing only three games between them involving Ulster teams, and BBC are expected to show less. This is not acceptable and it cannot continue. This shouldn’t be about pinning one sport against another, but quite frankly there are larger crowds attending some local parish derbies in our County Championship than some of the games which are aired on BBC Radio Ulster on a Friday evening.
‘To top it all off we are told today that the BBC has paid out £173million to purchase UKTV from Discovery. I would much prefer to see the BBC investing in local sport and covering Gaelic Games across this island. The GAA has done a lot in recent years to reach beyond its traditional catchment and better coverage of our games would act as a great showcase for the sport right across Ulster.’
