A chara, – It is a great pity that we have elected someone to our Government with an inability to see what his “idea” will do.
I subscribe to Sky in order to see European rugby and particularly when Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connaught are playing. Under Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan’s proposal, I, along with a lot of other people, would no longer subscribe to Sky. This would have a dramatic negative effect on Sky viewership and marketing. More importantly, this would have a direct financial effect on the sponsorship available to rugby in Ireland. The outfall would be that we would not want to watch our proud provinces because they would be stripped of the best players. Sky is a business and it would not want to support teams that are not marketable.
Mr Ryan should stop playing politics, and leave the games to the professionals. – Is mise,
Madam, – Gareth Williams wonders (May 19th) how on earth the IRFU managed to get by in the last century before the advent of corporate sponsorship.
Might I suggest that it ran generally unsuccessful amateur teams in a dangerously dilapidated stadium? – Yours, etc,
Madam, – In reference to Gareth Williams (May 19th), I believe that providing these sporting events free-to-air is not in the public interest. The IRFU is opposing this proposal for the sole reason that it wishes to continue to strengthen the growth of rugby over the whole island of Ireland.
If the IRFU were to no longer receive from Sky revenues associated with broadcasting, the following would be the outcome. Connacht would cease to exist as a professional entity, Irish provinces would no longer be able to fund the acquisition of non-Irish qualified players such as Rocky Elsom or Doug Howlett and it would lead to a mass exodus of young talented Irish players to countries such as England and France as the IRFU would lack the ability to match the wages on offer.
It is clear that none of the above might be considered to be in the public interest. The way the IRFU has dealt with the advent of professionalism and also the funding it has received from its many sources has allowed Ireland to become one of the leading nations in the world.
It is the introduction of professionalism that has made corporate sponsorship, which Mr Williams bemoans, such an essential part of the sport. In my view, the naming rights to a stadium are a small and worthwhile price to pay for the success Ireland’s rugby teams have brought to our small nation. – Yours, etc,