Gráinne McElwain: The other side of the lens

Gráinne McElwain was the anchor of GAA GO’s coverage this season. She tells Michael McMullan about her media journey and looks at the race for Sam

Michael McMullan: Gráinne, you were born in Canada, raised in Monaghan but live in Galway.

Gráinne McElwain: I’m in Leitir Móir in the Galway Gaeltacht. The next stop is America so it’s all sea around where I live. My husband’s from here and we have three kids. For my work obviously I travel a lot, so I get to see a lot of the country and a lot of different GAA grounds. We’ve been on the road now since April across Ireland but it’s always a pleasure and a privilege.

MMcM: You were a history teacher in a previous life, how did you end up in the media?

GMcE: When I was in college I worked for Northern Sound on Saturday sport, interviewing people, reading reports and anything I was asked on a Saturday afternoon.

I was an Irish teacher and one day in Dublin I’d forgotten essays for my fifth year honours class. I ran to the staff room, got an Irish language newspaper to photocopy pages to hand and go through essays. There was an ad in the paper looking for a sports researcher in Nemeton TV, down in Rinn in Waterford.

I thought ‘that’s really interesting’ so I applied and within six weeks I’d left my full-time pensionable job and moved down to Waterford to start a new career. That’s 20 years ago and I have never looked back.

I literally just immersed myself as a sports researcher. When you’re working in a small company, you just do everything and are thrown into doing everything. You get loads of opportunities if you’re happy to work.

I became a sports researcher and then I became a producer. I was directing some shoots when we were out filming different interviews.

Then I got an opportunity to be a presenter when we had the rights for the Allianz League on TG4 and they were looking for a female presenter.

I did a screen test and got that job but it only lasted a year because then we lost the rights to Setanta at that time.

From then, I got more presenting and from 2012 or 2013 I made a decision to work on presenting full-time because I was between two stools.

I went for it and I presented the ladies football on TG4. I got involved with working with RTÉ doing the sideline reporting for them at different games and for the Sunday highlights show.

Sky Sports came in 2020 and I got that opportunity to anchor that programme and I loved that. Then, when Sky Sports weren’t involved in the GAA Championship, GAA Go asked me to be involved as the presenter for that.

It’s really important to do lots of different roles because you understand things much better and I’m someone that likes to learn. I’m someone that’s very happy to do whatever people ask me to do and be a team player. I’ve enjoyed it and love what I do. So I’m very, very lucky.

MMcM: When you saw that advert, you must’ve had a love of sport.

GMcE: Growing up in Scotstown, there wasn’t a ladies’ football team but when it started, I did it but didn’t stay full-time at it which is a massive regret. I have a daughter now who is definitely staying at it because it’s so important to stay involved in sport.

I would have been very much involved in Scór and we would have won in All-Ireland, playing an instrumental group at Scotstown.

My dad was chairman of the club twice. As a chairman’s daughter, obviously you do whatever you’re asked. So there’s not very much within the club you haven’t done in terms of selling tickets or sandwiches or shops or programmes or playing music at events…everything.

Scotstown’s less than 20 minutes from Clones so we’d have gone to all the championship games and after being at a Scotstown game in the morning.

Then you’d have gone to Croke Park so we would have always been on the road. I loved it. I love that connection of it and I love that catchphrase ‘there’s a place for us all’ and I really believe that with the GAA.

When I saw that ad, that job just called to me. I suppose it was something I was really interested in. I worked hard and I just got those opportunities and I took them, which was great.

MMcM: What are the difficult moments in the job?

GMcE: A lot is the travel. That is hard because I have three young kids as well. So you’re kind of juggling and scheduling. It’s the guilt when you’re leaving them behind or I’m missing events because you’re going to miss events when you’re working. When they’re younger, they didn’t really notice or they don’t really put the guilt trip on you. But, for me, it’s really important to work and I really think it’s important for children to see women work. It’s also a job I really love, so I don’t want to not do this job either.

This year in particular, on GAA GO, we might’ve been in Ballybofey for one game and then you were down maybe in Cork or Waterford the second day or in Monaghan.

That doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it’s just the logistics and challenges but it’s the same for everyone who works in sport.

That’s the payoff because when you’re there it is such a privilege. We’re so lucky and grateful to be the ones that are actually witnessing these games because often we have the best seat in the house.

MMcM: What else do you enjoy?

GMcE: You get to talk to people afterwards and ask them about what happened or why did such a thing happen. You’re working with great analysts who are gods and heroes of the game, just hearing their stories and insights.

It’s live TV so when they’re telling you it’s 30 seconds to air, you have to be ready to go on air and talk. Things happen. It’s never straightforward. Things might not work or somebody doesn’t turn for an interview and you just have to be very flexible and not panic. That’s the big thing too. You have to be chilled about it and try to come across as best you can.

You also hope the viewers at home are learning. That’s a big thing from my perspective, you want people at home to be learning something when you’re asking people questions and that it’s not me that’s talking all the time. Let’s face it, nobody really wants to hear what I want to say.

It’s more interesting to hear what Michael Murphy has to say or Marc Ó Sé or Paddy Andrews and Aaron Kernan. It’s the same in hurling with Bubbles O’Dwyer, Eoin Cadogan, Seamus Hickey or Richie Hogan.

MMcM: So it is a hard balance then?

GMcE: You’ve like a maximum of four minutes to talk. So you’re trying to get everyone’s point of view into that four-minute period because once that four-minute period goes, you won’t have time to come back.

For example, if we want to talk about a kick-out strategy. If everyone hasn’t said what they want to say within those four minutes, we might be moving on to talk about, maybe, Galway after the break so we didn’t get touching on Dublin’s kick-out strategy.

We didn’t get touching on the points that people are talking about on the street and that can be challenging. I want people to hear what the lads have to say about this because it’s really interesting.

You just have to be very aware of keeping things moving, stop people talking too much and just to make sure everyone gets their point heard without it coming across as being rushed.

That comes with experience and there’s a rapport you have with your analysts where they trust you too and you trust them. That’s what you want at the end of the day, good conversation and people at home are just really enjoying listening.

MMcM: So when you are all watching the first half, are you picking key areas?

GMcE: Most of the controversial instances would stand out, so you’re going to look at it. We all have the beauty of camera angles and looking back and replays. Referees don’t, it’s literally instantaneous for them. They will have help from their sideline officials or from their umpires but that’s it.

We can look back and we’re going to show different angles ao some things will stand out. You’re talking about scores and kick-outs are such a huge thing in our game now as well.

Even for Dublin and Galway, the way Galway were only half pressing in the first half on Dublin’s kick-out. They were in no man’s land so that’s something we spoke about at half-time. Then, in the second half, Galway reversed that. They just pushed up, they just went for it so it was interesting. You’re trying to see patterns in play. Again, it’s what the analysts want to talk about because they’re the people that have played at an extremely high level. It’s what they see that is interesting for the viewer at home? Even things like Cillian McDaid playing well. Shane Walsh was injured. Is he going to come back on? You’re literally highlighting those points to the viewer at home.

MMcM: You also get to chat with players and managers.

GMcE: It’s great to hear what they have to say and they’re all very generous with their time. I always think their insights are really interesting as well, when they stop doing the clichés.

I always feel when you’re asking somebody a question they’re not talking to me, Gráinne McElwain, they’re talking to the viewers at home. I think it’s great that most of them are honest now, most of them kind of say how they feel.

MMcM: There are so many stories in the game. We know that players are not always comfortable talking about their game plans or tactics.

GMcE: Exactly, they’re not going to tell you that and if they are they’ll get a a serious talking to by management. No one is going to tell you that, there’s no point asking.

It’s just personal stories, I love hearing more about the person behind it as well and how they got there. We’re very lucky. A lot of the players we’ve interviewed, they’re great.

When I was doing ladies football and TG4, the girls are great at talking. We had Bríd Stack involved with our commentary this year as well. She’s brilliant.

The lads have got a lot better. From my experience in the last couple of years, I’ve just felt that they’ve been very open and generous with their time and honest, which is great for the viewer at home.

MMcM: What’s your take on GAA GO and fans calls for all games being available on terrestrial TV?

GMcE: I think there is a perception by certain people that it should be that way. Every game has not been free to air since 2014 when Sky Sports came into the market. So that’s over 10 years the GAA have been doing this. From my perspective, I’m not involved in any of the decisions or anything that happens. I’ve just been asked to be the presenter of it and I’ve been very lucky to be asked. From our viewpoint, we’re just trying to do the best job that we can and do the best production that we can from all the team behind the scenes. So that’s what we concentrate on. To be honest, everything else, we don’t get involved with it. I just go out every weekend, do the best that I can and I let the GAA deal with everything else.

MMcM: Going forward, is it the media’s responsibility to sell the games?

GMcE: Yeah, but I think we’re very bad at running things down and being negative. At times, 100 per cent, the games, particularly the football this year, have been negative but I find the hurling has been amazing though it’s been tinged with negativity in certain other elements.

I just think we have a fantastic product. I think that the Football Review Committee coming in is a good idea because the game is hard to watch.

You’re not going to find too many people saying it’s great to watch. Dublin and Galway’s second half was brilliant but the other three quarter-finals were not great. The Kerry and Derry one was a really difficult watch. Armagh and Roscommon, it was hard to watch…Louth and Donegal too. It has just become so defensive minded and you can even tell by people in the stadiums, it’s just so quiet.

Nobody’s shouting, no one’s screaming. There was the contrast of Dublin and Galway in the second half when the crowds had something to shout about. That’s what people want. They want to feel that connection. They want to get behind their team. So it has been difficult in some of the games. The Mayo and Derry game was exciting when it was brought to penalties.

So it was really exciting watching that but I think it’s just a hard sell. For football in this year’s championship, Dublin and Galway saved it with that second-half display.

I think the four teams remaining; they’ll all fancy their chances. They’ll all see that they have a really good opportunity of winning San Maguire.

For the full interview with Gráinne, check out Gaelic Liveson Spotify. We have podcasts uploaded every week.