TG4's exapnding coverage: The innovative live GAA broadcasts undertaken by TG4 are helping to popularise the station in the public imagination. Keith Duggan reports.

Last weekend's showing of the historic match-under-lights between Cork and Kerry marked a watershed in all sorts of ways. Given the robust nature of the contest, some sort of dimming device might have been useful to lessen the impact of some of the close-up action, but, in general, the viewing was deemed to be an unqualified success.

It is no surprise that a Cork-Kerry version of Saturday Night's All Right ranks as number three in TG4's top 10 GAA broadcasts. What may catch some people unawares is that it is the senior women's GAA finals that have set up shop in the top two positions.

"It is something that delights us, naturally enough," says Helen O'Rourke, the director general of the women's GAA. "TG4 actually came on board as our sponsors and in a way this is a repayment of the faith they have shown in us."

This significant catch of the market share flies in the face of the usual negligible media coverage that the women's game has to contend with. It is also a good example of TG4's innovative approach to covering sport since the native language channel came on air in 1996.

Seven years in, TG4 has carved out an exclusive reign on the GAA's winter calendar, now showing live hurling and football league games in addition to its comprehensive broadcasts of the club championships, the college competitions and the county finals. Indeed, it was the Donegal county final of 1999 that marked TG4's first venture into the realm of live GAA broadcasts.

"I think that showed us what was possible and it just began to grow from there," says Ronan Ó Coisdealbha, sports editor for TG4.

"What actually put us on the map was the All-Ireland Gold series. That really illustrated the phenomenal demand that exists for Gaelic games and that series remains very popular."

Since then, TG4's portfolio has expanded rapidly. They have negotiated a joint contract with RTÉ for exclusive rights to the leagues and club championships.

"It is an arrangement that suits us and RTÉ, who obviously have complete access to the expanded championship."

TG4 have made handsome use of RTÉ's rich GAA archives to run the All-Ireland Gold series and to produce a number of one-off documentaries of the type that the national broadcaster comes under fire for neglecting. However, TG4 does not see itself as in competition with RTÉ and the very comparison is probably unfair, given the vast budgetary differences.

"I wouldn't even have a clue what the RTÉ sports budget is," says Ó Coisdealbha.

The biggest danger for TG4 remains the fluctuating world of rights. Thus far, they have boxed clever in spotting potentially attractive sports not eaten up by the major broadcast companies. Thus came Olé Olé, featuring live soccer from La Liga, this year's Celtic League and Hoopzone, a basketball highlights show.

"The fact that the Celtic League final went out live on BBC and we still managed to grab fairly good figures shows that language isn't really a barrier when it comes to sport," he says.

In fact, in terms of the GAA, it is an asset, given the association's desire to promote the language, something that may help safeguard TG4's current position.

This weekend, TG4 will probably be the first unit in broadcast history to bring us an event "live from Pomeroy" when Galway visit league champions Tyrone. The station can look forward to increasing figures as the league begins to take shape and the regular, weekly slot will help add a touch of glamour and occasion to a competition that has long suffered from a dowdy complexion.

Nemeton, an independent company based in Waterford, are behind the broadcasts, with Brian Tyers, a schoolteacher in Cork, well established as TG4's Motty/Ó Muircheartaigh. It has been a smooth trajectory so far, but Ó Coisdealbha cannot really tell where things will go from here.

"The way the rights market changes, it is impossible to plan beyond a two-year period. I hope we will continue to try and broadcast a diverse range of sports and that our relationship with the GAA will continue to grow."