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A dejected Shay Given applauds the Irish supporters in Poznan. INPHO/James Crombie

Ireland v Croatia wins the battle of TV sports ratings

There you go Shay, you can clap for that.

THE IRISH FOOTBALL team may not have much to crow about of late but they took home the prize for the most-watched sport on television in Ireland last year.

RTÉ’s coverage of Ireland’s 3-1 loss Croatia, in June, attracted an average audience of 1,236,000 viewers

975,000 GAA supporters tuned in to RTÉ’s coverage of the All-Ireland Senior Football Final between Donegal and Mayo last September.

The Sunday Game’s live coverage of the final, which was won by Donegal, was the sixth most watched show or event in Ireland in 2012.

The programme’s live coverage of the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Final, between Kilkenny and Galway, came in at number eight with just over 900,000 viewers.

The national broadcaster’s Olympics coverage hit its peak on 9 August when approximately 754,000 viewers turned on their sets to watch Katie Taylor win her Gold Medal in the boxing ring.

The figures were enough to rank the broadcast as the 11th most viewed television show in Ireland.

RTÉ Sport’s coverage of the Six Nations opener between Ireland and Wales at the Aviva Stadium came in at number 20 with 648,000 viewers.

One suspects that the viewing figures dropped off after Ireland lost out to a late Welsh penalty from Leigh Halfpenny.

The Late Late Toy Show, with an average audience of 1,453,000 viewers, claimed the top spot.

A full run-down on the Top 20 can be read here>>

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