The practice of ‘geo-blocking’, where broadcasters restrict access to coverage based on physical location, has long been a source of enormous frustration for television viewers north of the border.
Despite legislation requiring RTÉ to provide a service “available to the whole community on the island of Ireland”, those watching sports programmes in particular often find themselves confronted with a blank screen due to issues over broadcasting rights.
The situation reached farcical levels during the Olympic Games earlier this year.
Not only was coverage of Irish competitors – including team members from north of the border – blocked on northern screens, but RTÉ took the unprecedented step of geo-blocking its main television news programmes because it included reports from the Paris games.
A u-turn quickly followed over news broadcasts, but it remains the case that licensing arrangements prevent the national broadcaster showing many sports events on a national basis.
The issue has been raised by politicians in Dublin and London on many occasions, going back many years, with no sign of progress being made.
Now fresh discussions are taking place between the Irish and British governments in the hope that a solution can be found.
SDLP leader Claire Hanna and MP Colum Eastwood met with UK culture minister Stephanie Peacock earlier this month, with talks subsequently between London and the Irish department of culture and media.
One possible solution, suggested by this paper, is to create unique IP (Internet Protocol) addresses for homes in Northern Ireland, which would allow access to content from both jurisdictions.
Northern viewers are currently only identified as being in the UK, restricting viewing to programmes licensed to broadcasters in Britain.
The technical and legal difficulties involved should not be underestimated. However, if Northern Ireland’s unique position can be recognised in much more complicated areas such as trade following the UK’s exit from the European Union, it should surely be possible for an arrangement to be found around broadcasting.
As Ms Hanna has pointed out, this is not just a case of missing out on the occasional high-profile sporting event. It is about taking an equal place in the national conversation during moments of all-island significance such as an Olympic gold medal.
RTÉ in particular needs to demonstrate it takes its responsibilities as an all-Ireland broadcaster seriously and end nonsensical restrictions over northern residents entering competitions.
With a new administration in Britain and a new government about to be elected in the Republic, and the prospect of improved relations following the toxicity of the post-Brexit period, it is an opportune time for a concerted attempt to resolve this issue once and for all.
As with endeavours on the sporting field, if there is sufficient will, there is undoubtedly a way.
