‘A hill I would die on' – Irritated Dara O Briain suggests change to GAA's Hawk-Eye system after watching All-Ireland
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The 53-year-old is not happy with Hawk-Eye displaying the word 'TÁ'
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The former Wicklow minor hurler is also not happy with the use of 'NÍL'
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Dara Ó Briain joined BBC 2's coverage of the All-Ireland Final back in 2023
The use of Hawk-Eye in
Hawk-Eye is a ball-tracking technology used to verify scores in both hurling and Gaelic football.
When the system shows that the ball or sliotar was between the posts it displays the message 'TÁ', where as when the shot has gone wide it displays 'NÍL'.
The fluent Irish speaker has hit out at 'TÁ' and 'NÍL' being displayed as he believes there are more grammar appropriate messages that could be used instead.
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The Bray native said: "The Hill I would Die On: it should be 'Sea/Ní Shea' on Hawkeye in Croke Park, not 'Tá/Níl'.
In the Irish language 'Tá' generally translates to 'is' or 'are' as it comes from the very 'to be' where as 'Sea' is more of an affirmation but closer to a direct translation for 'yes'.
Likewise, 'Níl' would be the negative version of 'Tá' so 'Ní Shea' may be a more appropriate substitute.
The former
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"After a VERY passionate debate on this, I am now doubling down and demanding it be 'Cuilín' or 'Ar Foraíol.'
"Both of which terms I love and should be in common usage. I feel this is the compromise solution we can all get behind and that's the end of the matter."
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With 'Cuilín' being the word adopted in the Irish language for 'point' and 'Ar Foraíol' translating to 'wide', it could be the ideal compromise with no direct translations of 'yes' or 'no' in the Irish language.
Despite this topic being heavily debated, it is unlikely that the 'TÁ' and 'NÍL' messages will change as they've been in place since Hawk-Eye's inception in May 2013 and have been criticised ever since.
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