THE UK and Irish governments will be asked to assess unique IP addresses for Northern Ireland residents in a bid to circumvent controversial geo-blocking issues around sports broadcasting.
The SDLP’s Claire Hanna has tabled a question for UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Lisa Nandy, and Labour leader Ivana Bacik TD has done likewise on their behalf to the Dáil.
In the question tabled to UK parliament, the SDLP asks if Ms Nandy’s department “will make an assessment of the potential merits of developing a unique IP address for Northern Ireland residents to prevent geo-blocking of Irish sports coverage from Ireland.”
Labour’s submissions ask for clarification from Eamon Ryan TD around communication between north and south on the issue, and from Minister for Sport, Catherine Martin TD on “[maintaining] a policy on ensuring that residents of Northern Ireland have equal access to Irish sporting events, including by way of broadcasting; and if she has discussed the matter with her counterpart in the British government.”
A further question enquires if Ms Martin “has a role in ensuring access by residents of Northern Ireland to broadcasting of sporting events by Irish broadcasters; and, if not, her plans to transfer such powers to it.”
Many viewers in the north have been left frustrated over several years at being unable to access sports content from RTÉ because of the nature of broadcasting agreements, particularly around sport.
Most northern residents have default IP addresses that are UK-registered, meaning their access to Irish sporting events is often restricted.
Sports broadcasting contracts such as those for the recent Olympic Games are usually sold on a country-by-country basis.
Fans in the north were left frustrated during the Paris Games at being unable to watch RTÉ's coverage, leaving them unable to see Irish athletes on terrestrial television unless their events were being covered by the BBC.
There was further controversy when RTÉ One’s main news bulletins were blocked during the Games, only for that decision to be quickly reversed amid the outcry.
Republic of Ireland soccer matches and coverage of Ireland’s international rugby games on RTÉ are also subject to geo-blocking, which is when broadcasters are contractually obligated to block their coverage to anyone outside their jurisdiction.
Any UK broadcaster holding rights to events such as World Cups in either sport or the Six Nations can mean that the ability for northern residents to watch Irish teams in action is often restricted and in some cases can only be bypassed by paying for subscription channels.
The broadcasters have found themselves bearing the brunt of the criticism but the nature of the contractual agreements means the real issue lies with the internet service providers (ISP), who provide IP addresses.
Northern residents can contact their ISP and ask to be registered as living on the island of Ireland, although that in turns restricts their ability to see sporting events from BBC, ITV and other UK broadcasters.