Irish rugby, though a minority sport, has achieved high status internationally: Ireland are now ranked third in the world. That a country with far fewer players than most of its major rivals – England has six times more – has performed so well, is a remarkable sporting achievement. This year Ireland recorded a memorable double. The men's team retained the RBS Six Nations title, and the women's team equalled that achievement. This success has been aided by the way rugby has been organised here since 1995, when the game went professional.
In that regard the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has shown great vision in adapting its structures to the professional era, thereby helping to lay the foundations for future success. The IRFU used the existing provincial structure to create four professional teams, while retaining centralised control over both the clubs and the payment of players.
That, allied to a change in the tax code and private funding by wealthy patrons, gave top players a financial incentive to play their rugby in Ireland rather than move to France or England on higher salaries. The results since 1995 – success for Ulster, Munster and Leinster in the European (Heineken) cup – and at international level, fully vindicate that approach.
Minister for Communications Alex White, as part of a three-year review of free-to-air events on television, has said there is now a strong case for listing Ireland's home matches in the Six Nations championship in that category. But if that is done then the existing revenue-sharing arrangements (largely via TV rights) that operate for the competition – on which the IRFU relies as a prime source of finance, and from which the game greatly benefits – may well be jeopardised. Since 1995, Ireland's competitive performance in rugby has been painstakingly achieved.
The Government should carefully consider any decision that would risk limiting the Irish TV audience for one of the great events in European sport, even as it takes into account the financial impact on the IRFU.