IRFU Response to Government ‘Listing’

The IRFU has issued a statement in response to the Government announcement in relation to the question of listing sports events.

The Minister for Communications, Dermot Ahern, has published a list of major sporting events which should still be available on terrestrial television in the State. Included in the Minister’s list were Ireland’s home and away qualifying games (socer) in the European Football Championships and the World Cup. Other sporting highlights included were; the All-Ireland Senior Hurling finals and the Irish Derby and Grand National.

One notable omission from the list was the Six Nations Rugby Championship.

Shortly after the announcement was made, the IRFU issued the following statement through Slattery PR.

The Irish Rugby Football Union, from the outset, has maintained that interference by the Government in the sports broadcasting market place may have a detrimental effect on the ability of sports organisations to fund their activity particularly in the context of the Irish sports broadcasting
market.

Given that the Government has chosen to go down the route of listing sports events, the decision to place Ireland’s Six Nations matches on a “deferred” list is the best that could be achieved by the IRFU in that it represents a
reasonable balance between protecting the public interest and at the same time safe guarding the ability of the IRFU to finance its activities at all levels.

In addition, it is a similar listing to that applied to Six Nations matches in the UK.