Galway to get a global TV audience of millions

Date Published: 03-Feb-2011

BY CIARAN TIERNEY

Millions of television viewers across the globe will get to see the delights of the city, Salthill, and Connemara when Galway hosts the first ever gruelling ‘Ironman’ triathlon to take place in this country in September.

The ‘Ironman 70.3 Series’ is recognised as the leading triathlon series in the world and the event on Sunday, September 4, will provide television exposure in areas and among sports fans who would rarely get to see the West of Ireland.

This week the organisers announced that TV highlights from the day would be shown on Channel 4 in the UK, Setanta Sports in a variety of continents, British Eurosport, ESPN in Asia, Canal+ in France, Showtime Arabia in the Middle East, and America ONE in the USA, along with a number of other broadcasters.

Local organisers Eoin McCormack and Ronan Gilligan, of E&R Events, have been delighted by the interest shown among competitors and foreign TV crews so far and also hope to secure a broadcasting deal for the domestic market in the coming weeks. E&R Events have already spent 18 months working on the project, which is still seven months away.

The Galway event will begin with a 1.9 k.m. swim in Salthill, followed by a challenging 90 k.m. bicycle race around scenic parts of Connemara, and a half-marathon through the city which is set to finish in Eyre Square.

A total of 1,800 people have already signed up to take part in the event on September 4, with 35 of them set to take ‘qualifying slots’ for the series final which takes place in Las Vegas at the end of the year.

“This is great news for Galway,” said Mr McCormack yesterday. “The ‘Ironman Series’ includes events in 44 countries throughout the world, but this is the first time it is coming to Ireland. It involves bringing in a lot of people from places like the U.S.A. and U.K. who will end up spending a week here.

What is less quantifiable is the value of the TV exposure from the event but, buoyed up by the success of the Volvo Ocean Race two years ago, Failte Ireland (West) were the first significant backers to come on board.

For more on this story, see the Galway City Tribune.