RTE have announced that Kilmaine’s own Jonathan Mullin has been appointed as the station’s first ever specialist Gaelic Games correspondent. Jonathan is already on RTE’s books and is well-known as a sports reporter with the station, having joined them in October 2006. Prior to that, he was Deputy Sports Editor with the Irish Daily Mail and has also worked with the Athlone Voice and the Evening Echo.

Jonathan’s appointment will be welcomed by GAA enthusiasts, as it shows that RTE obviously sees the need to improve on its often pedestrian coverage of Gaelic games. The station’s treatment of the just-concluded national leagues on its so-called Sunday Sport programme was little short of an embarrassment and although the quantity of championship action that it transmits can’t be faulted, the quality certainly can. Hopefully, Jonathan’s appointment will help to usher in a new approach to GAA coverage within RTE and this, combined with TV3’s entry into the world of live championship broadcasting, should mean that the presentation of Gaelic games on television will be less staid and formulaic than it often has been to date.