Tipperary Independent TD Mattie McGrath has made calls for senior Management of the GAA and RTE to be brought before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media to discuss the growing number of GAA matches that are now locked behind a paywall.
The Tipperary TD who is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee has written to the Committee Chair Niamh Smyth TD requesting that senior management of both organisations be brought before the committee to answer the question of responsibility for the promotion of our national games.
“The decision not to air several high-profile matches on RTE particularly in the highly contested Munster Championship is hugely concerning, particularly for our elderly and rural citizens who may not have access to reliable broadband or the ability to access matches on GAA GO. This decision is also deeply concerning in relation to the promotion of our national sports, particularly hurling.
The Munster Championship is the hotbed of hurling and to think that so far 3 of the key Munster championship matches have been locked behind a paywall is unthinkable and it smacks of greed and a lack of interest in the promotion of hurling.” Said Deputy McGrath
“This decision also follows the GAA’s decision to go cashless which again discriminates and isolates against those who may not have access to technology or who may choose to use cash as a legal tender and has made our games inaccessible even at club and county level.
The question has been asked as to who is responsible and accountable for the promotion of our games in an affordable and accessible way and I believe that it is essential that both organisations, both of whom receive significant exchequer funding, are brought before the Joint Oireachtas Committee to answer that question as a matter of urgency.” Continued McGrath
“Both organisations serve an important public role that they seem to be forgetting about and the GAA seem to be moving further and further away from the grassroots nature of their organisation with too much focus on commercialisation and greed.
Given the levels of exchequer funding that both organisations receive, I believe they have a question to answer in relation to the promotion of our national games.
The matter will be discussed at this weeks Meeting of the Committee and I hope that the Committee will agree to my request to bring them before the Oireachtas Committee.” Concluded McGrath
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