In comments that have been widely publicised today, GAA President Aogan O Fearghail lashed out at the "consistent negativity" of The Sunday Game's coverage of Gaelic games and hinted that that "could be an issue" when the TV rights deal is up for discussion next year.
Tonight, Denis Walsh of the Sunday Times and Kieran Shannon of the Irish Examiner joined us on Off The Ball to talk about the potential impact of O Fearghail's comments.
"Certainly the punditry on Sky Sports is of a different tone to the punditry we often hear on RTE's football output. I think he went too far with that and I think he was wrong to bring that into the conversation. But I do think that on the general point on the tone of the punditry, I think he has a serious point there. In his defence I would see that he would feel a duty of care, if you like, to the players, referees and the people who play the game who are amateurs. He'd be entitled to feel strongly about that," said Walsh.
@JohnFogartyIrl they want Rose of Tralee coverage, instead of the real stuff discussed by GAA folk in the stands & bars
— Joe Brolly (@JoeBrolly1993) August 25, 2015
He also feels that pundits have a "responsibility to choose their language carefully" without killing their message and feels that "at times, certainly, Joe Brolly especially has lost control of it a little bit at times".
Shannon addressed that point saying that Brolly can be "dangerous" but "overall can be a good contributor to the game but particularly when it comes to referees, someone like Aogan O Fearghail would be coming from a duty of care" angle.
On the Tyrone issue in the wake of the Tiernan McCann controversy, Shannon added that he does not agree with O Fearghail's critical view of Colm O'Rourke's comments regarding a "bad smell" surrounding Tyrone vis a vis cynical play.
And looking back at the cultural changes like social media's importance, Walsh discussed how that has had an impact on punditry in recent years.
Shannon also added that: "Sometimes the football commentators can take too much joy in having a cutting remark which can be unfair."
Listen to the full interview via the podcast player.
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