Carry on, Carthy
RTÉ U-turn as it renews the contract of GAA commentator Brian in the face of growing criticism from his supporters
BOSSES at RTÉ have performed a dramatic U-turn and renewed the contract of long-time GAA commentator Brian Carthy, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
It was reported last month that the longserving Roscommon native’s contract was up and that the station had opted not to renew it.
However, it is understood that Carthy, who has spent more than three decades behind the station’s GAA microphone but has never commentated on an All-Ireland final, has been offered a one-year extension after Montrose mandarins over-ruled the initial call.
A source told the MoS: ‘Brian was called in by head of sport Declan McBennett in November and told his contract would not be renewed. It was a shock.
‘But Brian made a pitch to the internal management committee which met a few weeks ago and the decision to axe him was overturned.
‘He won’t be given the title of Gaelic Games correspondent anymore though – that is definitely gone from him.’
It is believed that Carthy will be back in the commentator’s chair soon and will be covering championship clashes this summer.
‘His last game was meant to be the All-Ireland Club football final between Corofin and Kilcoo but this move still leaves the door open for him to achieve his ambition of doing an All-Ireland final,’ the source said.
‘It is seen as something of a rebuke to those who made the initial call and appears to leave the door open for others like Tracy Piggott, whose contract to cover horse racing was not renewed recently to appeal that decision upwards.’
The source also suggested that the decision to say ‘carry on, Carthy’ was influenced by outside voices, and harks back to a row between RTÉ and inter-county managers over alleged downgrading of the Roscommon man nine years ago.
‘You might recall that a number of managers including high-profile bosses Mickey Harte and Kieran McGeeney signed off on a letter sent to the then-director general Noel Curran complaining about what they perceived as the downgrading of Carthy’s role,’ the source said.
‘That got a lot of media coverage in 2011 and as the decision to drop him this time was also receiving a lot of criticism from the wider GAA community, it alerted the top brass to the depth of feeling against it, and it’s felt that also had an influence on what they decided.
‘To put it simply, after the recent row over Joe Brolly’s departure and the unrest over Tracy Piggott’s situation, the management committee didn’t want any further bad publicity, and there was also concern that Sky could hand Brian the gig for an All-Ireland final, similar to what UTV did with Jimmy Magee some years ago and they didn’t want that embarrassment.’
Magee, a long-time Sunday World columnist, commentated on three All-Ireland deciders for UTV in the mid-Nineties, having been overlooked for the role at RTÉ.
Carthy, whose son John Brian won an All-Ireland under-21 title as a goalkeeper with Dublin, did not respond to efforts by the MoS to contact him.
RTÉ refused to comment this weekend but did confirm that Carthy will be back on air.