Gaelic football:This Saturday's All-Ireland SFC qualifier between Kerry and Tyrone in Killarney will be shown live by TV3.
There had initially been fears that the game would not be screened, as its understood that TV3 favoured a 7pm start to maximise viewers, while the Tyrone county board favoured a 3pm throw-in, due to the distance their supporters were going to have to travel, and also to allow for the fact that many would want to attend the Ulster MFC final the following day in Clones at noon.
A compromise was reached and TV3 will be live on air from Fitzgerald Stadium in Killarney from 4.30pm ahead of the 5pm throw-in, with Matt Cooper presenting and Peter Canavan and Irish Times columnist Darragh Ó Sé analysing the action.
The fixture is the stand-out game of the qualifiers this weekend. The two sides developed a fierce rivalry during the 2000s when between them they won seven consecutive All-Ireland titles. Both sides have fallen slightly from that high-water mark with Tyrone currently in a rebuilding phase and Kerry – who nearly fell to Westmeath last Saturday – struggling to hit their best form, but the game will still generate huge interest with the public.
It will be the first of two live games on TV3 this weekend. On Sunday, from 1.30pm TV3 will also televise the Ulster SFC final between Donegal and Down (2pm). The Leinster football final between Dublin and Meath (4pm) be shown live on RTE 2.