Ireland is 'back in the World Cup' — but sound issues undermine RTÉ coverage

Republic of Ireland's Katie McCabe applauds the fans after the Women's World Cup Group B match against Australia at the Sydney Football Stadium, Picture : Isabel Infantes/PA

RTÉ’s Evanne Ní Chuilinn switched to Gaeilge for her closing remarks, referencing the historic nature of the occasion before handing over to George Hamilton.

The dulcet tones of the Belfast-born broadcaster came on air to pictures of Katie McCabe and co. in the tunnel. That was enough. If you didn’t have goosebumps before, you had them now.

“Listen to the roar,” he told us. “Ireland is back in the World Cup.” 

As with so many of these iconic moments in Irish football through the decades, Hamilton’s tone was pitch perfect, capturing the magnitude and the significance of a momentous occasion.

“The Royal Australian Airforce has a motto. Per ardua ad astra. It’s Latin. ‘Through difficulty and trials and tribulations, you reach the stars.’ I think that sums up the story of Irish women’s football in a nutshell.” 

Amhrán na bhFiann was then belted out by the women on the field representing their country and by the thousands of Irish men and women in the Stadium Australia.

Hamilton’s co-commentator Stephanie Zambra remarked that it “may not be a Giant’s Stadium moment, but there is a lot of green around”. She also remarked on the long journey to get there, from the strike of 2017 onwards. Hearts and souls poured into this. Doing their country proud.

The months of build up were now over. In pubs and offices and homes and on big screens at parties around the country, Ireland was watching. The time had come at last.

Goosebumps

🇦🇺 v 🇮🇪#coygig #fwc2023
📺Watch https://t.co/2W5kFtUgZE
📻Listen https://t.co/QHSJNYlfx8
📱Updates https://t.co/YLBQxszzTF pic.twitter.com/GQvBpBQH5Z

— RTÉ Soccer (@RTEsoccer) July 20, 2023

And. The. Effing. Audio. Was. Out. Of. Sync. Of course, it’d be out of sync. On this, the biggest of days.

What George Hamilton and Stephanie Zambra were describing was not what was on our screens. They were telling us what was happening before we actually saw it.

My belief that the RTÉ Player was playing tricks on just me was quickly quelled after seeing the consternation on Twitter. It may not be the worst thing to happen to RTÉ in the last few weeks but it certainly was distracting, and annoying.

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And it took away slightly from the first-half experience of a dogged Irish team keeping their shape, providing a sporadic threat and offering a hefty reply to claims they were “too soft”, after the now-infamous friendly game with the Colombians last week.

In studio, RTÉ chose their analysts well. It wouldn’t be Ireland at a World Cup without a heavy dose of realism and easing of expectations thrown in.

Karen Duggan was clear that “we’d take a 0-0 all day”. Richie Sadlier said we needed a “bit more quality in the final third”. Host Evanne Ní Chuilinn expressed the hope that we “might nick one”.

There was positive news to start the second half. “We seem to be in sync,” said the RTÉ Soccer Twitter account. And then came the penalty. Australia’s captain Steph Catley buried it. But we still had 40 odd minutes with which to muster a response.

Grace O'Sullivan, sister-in-law of player Denise O'Sullivan, reacts to the penalty goal for Australia, watching the game at the Woolshed Bar & Grill in Cork where family and friends of Denise O'Sullivan gathered to watch the game on Thursday morning. Picture: Larry Cummins

The longer the game went on, the more pressure Ireland began to apply and we began to show more of our quality. When the Aussie goalie went down injured, the Fields of Athenry was audible over everything else. Belted out by the thousands of Irish in attendance.

Chances remained elusive, and sadly time ran out. As Hamilton summed up: “It may be a defeat but it was a defeat with honour on our World Cup debut.”

We may be down but not out. There’s plenty more to play for in games against Canada and Nigeria. Turner’s Cross is hosting one of many big watch parties on Wednesday for the crunch game against Canada.

One defeat won’t dampen the enthusiasm for the huge achievement Ireland’s women have made in getting there and the hope that millions will have of one more moment where “a nation holds its breath”.