IN a welcome development, the past number of weeks saw a big increase in the amount of coverage given to equestrian sport by both RTE and TV3 in their main evening news bulletins. Irish show jumping riders were mentioned six times in the last four weeks alone for their winning exploits at London Olympia and Liverpool International Horse Show.

Video footage of Co Antrim teenager Christopher Megahey’s (18) puissance victories at London Olympia and Liverpool was shown on the main evening news bulletins, while Billy Twomey’s second Grand Prix win at Liverpool with Diaghilev was also featured on last Monday’s RTE Six-One Sport, sharing the headlines with Premier League football and top racing. Recent good results by Cian O’Connor and Denis Lynch were also given television airtime, as was Billy Twomey’s La Coruna Grand Prix win before Christmas.

Brian Hennessy, who heads the Horse Sport Ireland press office, this week spoke to The Irish Field and explained how this recent welcome upsurge in equestrian coverage by mainstream media had come about.

“We have been working very hard over the past year to strengthen relationships with the national media. This began as far back as our Rio media day at Abbottstown last April which was a huge success. We managed to attract all the major print media and TV crews from RTE and TV3 to the event and since then we have been trying to look at different ways to increase exposure of our sports.

“One of the problems was that non-equestrian media sometimes found it difficult to distinguish between the different range of wins and to pick out the very top level results which deserve national airtime. I have been working with both RTE and TV3 to explain our different star system for events. RTE Online have been excellent at covering all major results, but when we have a major four or five-star win, I follow up with emails and phone calls to the sports department in the hope that it can make the main news.”

Hennessy outlined how securing video footage from shows has proved that, when packaged correctly, both RTE and TV3 are willing to highlight equestrian sport achievements.

“One of the key ingredients in the recent increase in coverage has been that we have been able to supply RTE and TV3 with broadcast footage of Irish riders in action free of charge. Both London Olympia and Liverpool were excellent to deal with and I was able to provide footage from both events to RTE and TV3 to go along with our Horse Sport Ireland press releases. TV stations want moving pictures and being able to source and provide this service to them has reaped the rewards.

Hennessy also has plans to hopefully bring footage from both major FEI Nations Cup competitions as well as the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, where so many Irish riders compete with great success, to Irish television screens.

FOOTAGE

“This is just the first stage in a long plan that we have in place. We have opened discussions with the Winter Equestrian Festival in Florida in the hope that footage of major Irish wins can be provided and we hope to meet with the FEI shortly to see if an agreement can be reached for the 2017 Nations Cup series.

“I have received great support from the HSI Marketing department led by our international marketing director Elaine Hatton since I took up the role last year and they have been very supportive in the changes and improvements we have made to the press service which, of course, includes also Team Ireland Equestrian on social media.

“It is important to note that are not just focusing on national media. We are sending more tailored content to our regional and local radio stations and newspapers. We are very lucky to have exceptional equestrian media outlets, such as The Irish Field, who provide unrivalled coverage of the sport on a weekly basis, and increased local and national coverage from non-equestrian media will benefit everyone involved.

“We would hope in the future that it becomes the norm that equestrian sport is featured on TV every time we have a major Irish win. It provides increased exposure for our riders, owners and breeders and is something that, unfortunately, has been lacking for far too long,” concluded Hennessy.