RTÉ plays a game of drones

All self-respecting broadcasters would love to have a very particular toy stashed away in their equipment store: an unmanned aerial vehicle, otherwise known as a UAV, or more commonly a drone.

RTÉ is one such broadcaster. Montrose, as viewers of Sunday Game Live may have spotted, has recently acquired a drone, which it is already putting to use by filming some stunning overhead footage of the nation's GAA venues.

Video of various grounds filmed by camera-equipped UAVs featured in its presentation of the sporting action from Ballybofey, Co Donegal, on May 17th, while last Sunday, the RTÉ drone took a trip to Semple Stadium in Thurles. This weekend, it is Croke Park’s turn.

Of course, there are all kinds of aviation permissions, training issues and civil liberty ramifications involved in both commercial and domestic drone usage.

Sunday Game Live avoids the crowds on match days, recording drone footage when the grounds and stadiums are still empty.

Still, viewers can expect to see more UAV-captured video as time goes on, and not just in sport – drones are the future for content creators, RTÉ's in-house innovation expert, Glen Mulcahy, told its TV Now TV Next conference this week.

It is not only cheaper to deploy drones than it is to dispatch helicopters, but on the evidence from RTÉ Sport, the little blighters are capable of picking up some lovely images on their travels too.