Eamonn Coghlan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for their presentation. I commend the GAA on this branch out to reach the diaspora throughout the world. The Gaelic Athletics Association is unique as a sports body when one considers the amateur ethos going back to its foundation 135 years ago by Maurice Davin and Michael Cusack. It has come a long way since then. I am delighted to hear the comments by the President with regard to the GAA going into negotiations or deliberations with the Athletic Association of Ireland. It is a golden opportunity for the GAA to return to its roots when athletics was included in the early days.

As a young boy, every Sunday I went to Croke Park and pulled wires with my father, Bill Coghlan, under the stewardship of Seán Ó Síocháin, when we worked on the sound system. I had a dream of playing there. I never had an opportunity to do so but I ran there in primary school sports. The GAA is the lifeblood of our community. It defines every town and parish in the country. The country owes much to the GAA for what it has done for Irish society. However I am a realist and we are in the 21st century. This is a venture into the world domain to show our wonderful Gaelic games throughout the world. The GAA is competing with other sports on an international basis for television exposure. It is all about marketing, exposure, the big picture and tourism. In particular it is about the exposure our country, through the medium of the GAA, will get throughout the world. I remember marketing 101 in college when our professor entered the room in a wheelchair and the first statement he made was if one wants to make a monkey famous one puts the monkey on TV for long enough. This is what will happen with the GAA and the brand of the sport throughout the world.

A number of people have been discommoded because 14 games will not be shown free-to-air, but as the witnesses indicated not all of the games are shown on TV anyhow. In recent weeks people in conversation with me have made certain comments. They wonder whether this deal with Sky Sports will dictate the schedule of GAA games in future. In other words, they wonder whether there will be Monday, Wednesday, Friday or Saturday night football. They wonder whether it will affect the players who are amateur in terms of their relationships with their employers and getting off work for midweek games. Will the GAA benefit from the advertising revenue which Sky sells? Will the GAA benefit from subscriptions which Sky receives from people signing up to Sky Sports packages? Well done to the GAA. It will be great for Ireland and the youth of Ireland if the GAA decides to goes back to its roots.