Micheál Martin on GAAGO: All football and hurling should be free-to air

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has said the broadcasting of senior inter-county hurling matches on pay-per-view television should be reviewed.

He said he believes all GAA games should be shown free-to-air.

Minister Martin was asked to comment on the fact that the weekend Munster SHC game between Cork and Tipperary was shown on the pay-per-view channel GAAGO, a joint venture between the GAA and RTÉ.

His comments come in the wake of strong views aired on the topic by fellow Corkonian, Donal Óg Cusack.

He said a significant audience missed the game because it was only available live on GAAGO.

Minister Martin replied "I think so" when he was asked if he believed all GAA games should be available free-to-air.

"That is a personal view that I have had for a long, long time, and it is the game of hurling that has lost the most in my view because hurling at its best is simply a classic," he said.

"Irrespective of anyone's preference for any particular code of sport, everyone loves to watch a great game of hurling. We have had two classics already now in terms of the Clare-Limerick game and the Cork-Tipp game and it just seems that a significant audience didn't get access to that, didn't see hurling at its best.

Impassioned debate on the broadcasting of hurling. #SundayGame. pic.twitter.com/eKL6O0zKte

"Anybody who was in Páirc Uí Chaoimh as I was on Saturday night, it was just one of those occasions - sun-drenched, a beautiful new stadium and a great game of hurling between Cork and Tipperary."

Minister Martin said he believed hurling itself would benefit if all games were shown on free-to-air TV.

"Certainly, our senior citizens need to be able to watch these games and, I think, hurling would benefit because if