Nemeton Spotlight Feature: Dáithí de Mórdha
In this week’s Spotlight Feature series we hear from GAA BEO commentator Dáithí de Mórdha.
Tosnaíos le Nemeton i 2018 mar thráchtaire ar na cluichí Gaelacha. I started with Nemeton in 2018 as a commentator on Gaelic Games, and I have loved every minute of it!
The work starts for me a few weeks before the game, when Fintan calls to tell me where I’m going! From the minute I know who is playing, I’m researching the teams and looking for all and any interesting info about them and about the individual players. Living in Kerry, matchday usually starts early and involves a long journey. I listen to GAA podcasts to shorten the road (obsessed much?!).
When I arrive at the ground, food is usually first on the agenda (Capall na hoibre an bia), then a production meeting and off we go. Manager interviews, sometimes a rehearsal (usually don’t have the time!), teamsheets and then the match itself. Post-match interviews, jump back in the car and head home. Sometimes I listen back to the match on the drive home (I told you I was obsessed)!
My favourite part of the job is that buzz of being involved in a small way in senior intercounty GAA. Although I played up to minor level with my club An Ghaeltacht, I was, to use a good Kerry phrase, ‘Red-Rotten Useless’ as a player, so this is as close as I will ever get! Also, chatting to legends of the games before and after the games is amazing, as is working with legends; I was working with Rena Buckley at a game once a friend texted me to say “between the two of ye, ye have 18 All-Irelands!”
I’ll also never forget the first time I walk out to the press area in Croke Park – on a small level it must be like the feeling a player gets when they go out the tunnel onto the pitch for the first time. The level of professionalism from everyone on the team never ceases to amaze me. Also I was shocked by the amount of people working on a live production; coming from a radio background I expected to be a member of a small team, but we can have upwards of 20 people working on a live game.
The highlights for me of working on GAA BEO would be seeing players who are destined for greatness for the first time, playing minor, u20 or club. I also have a soft spot for the Intermediate/Junior club finals – witnessing the greatest ever day of a small rural club is incredible.
The most unique thing about working with this team is you can feel that everyone loves the work. Also, the fact that we are ag obair as Gaolainn, my first language, makes it all the more special, as does working for a Gaeltacht company like Nemeton TV.
