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(This article is produced by our Gaeltacht team. You can read an Irish version of this piece here)
IF IRELAND ARE winning in the final stretch of Ireland’s crucial World Cup qualifier with Czechia in Prague, Conamara man Garry Mac Donncha, who is providing the Irish language commentary on RTÉ for the game, will be writing a few notes about what he may say to mark the momentous sporting achievement it would signifiy when the final whistle is blown.
He will be inpired by the great commentators of old – George Hamilton and his never to be forgotten ‘a nation holds it breath’ when David O’Leary was gearing up to score THAT penalty kick or Jimmy Magee’s recitation of previous Olympic medal winners when John Treacy won the silver medal in the marathon back in the 1984 Olympics.
Or when Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh spoke about Seán Óg Ó hAilpín’s hurling heritage – his father comes from Fermanagh, his mother is from Fiji, neither is a hurling stronghold – when the Irish speaking hurler captained Cork to their last Liam McCarthy in 2005.
Another possible inspiration could be Seán Bán Breathnach’s tearful commentary when Katie Taylor won gold at the London Olympics.
Faced with this, Mac Donncha says that he does try and put a few word down on paper as the final whistle draws closer to try and compose a telling summary of the story of the game but his main concern is the action in front of him and getting right the name of whoever scores Ireland’s last minute goal to secure victory.
RTÉ’s live Irish language commentary on major international matches has expanded significantly this year and last month’s international match between Ireland and England marked the beginning of this option being available to soccer and rugby fans.
The commentator – originally from An Cheathrú Rua – is certainly delighted that Ireland have been victorious with him behind the microphone so far and he hopes to continue the winning run in Prague and, again, at the Aviva Stadium next Tuesday.
“I am hopeful it will continue – the rugby team managed to get the job done against England and Wales and, with the help of God, we will do the job against Czechia, but it won’t be easy,” the commentator told The Journal.
But with Troy Parrott at the top of his game at the moment, playing well and finding the back of the net for Az Alkmaar in the Netherlands, we are hoping and praying!
Another reason to rejoice is the reports and pictures coming from Ireland fans who are stuck in the Czech capital, he remarks.
“It’s great to see the pictures from their supporters over in Prague at the moment and Irish supporters haven’t been used to an event like this for years.”
The game in Prague is not the first time that Garry has been commentating live on an international soccer match, as the option was available for Ireland’s matches in the Euro 2016, and he was behind the microphone for Giovanni Trappatoni’s squad’s less glorious adventure.
He has been commentating on games of all kinds in Irish since 1996, when he started working with RTÉ having just graduated from the University of Galway (UCG back then) with a degree in Irish and Archaeology.
He used to present a programme called Spórt Iris which was broadcast on TG4 (then TnaG) when that channel started off and he has commentated as Gaeilge soccer matches from the Spanish top league. He has been commentating live on Gaelic football and hurling championship matches for RTÉ for a decade or so but the work has now increased significantly with the latest expansion of coverage.
Mac Donncha does not know whether there will be further development of RTÉ’s Irish language commentary service, whether it is intended to go as far as the Olympic Games for example. He said that RTÉ was sympathetic to the Irish language commentary and he also thanked the people at RTÉ Sport who support it.
He is ready to travel, if he gets the call. The big game tonight is the next stop on his tour and, after that, the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday. He hopes that it will be a qualifying match – rather than a challenge match – with the winners of the other qualifying semi-final between Denmark and North Macedonia.
“Who knows, but we may be going to America and Mexico during the Summer – wouldn’t that be great?”
Live Irish language commentary for the Ireland v Czech Republic match will be available on RTÉ News Now and the RTÉ Player. If you change your smart TV language to Irish, it will also be available on the regular channel.
Mac Donncha said he was told that around 10,000 people were watching Ireland v England in the Six Nations Championship with Irish language commentary.
The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
This article was originally written in the reporter’s native Irish and has been translated to English here. AI was used as part of the translation process before final edits.
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