The decision to add a round-robin system to the Leinster and Munster Hurling Championships, added to the ushering in of the so-called Super 8 to the latter stages of the football competition, has added 15 games to the summer roster.

However, that bump has not been reflected in the existing TV rights deals which were signed back in December of 2016 for a five-year period when RTÉ were awarded 31 live games. Sky were granted 20 games, 14 of them on an exclusive basis.

Add in the GAA’s commitment to run both inter-county competitions off inside a smaller summer window from this year and it has all prompted a major shift in the live TV landscape with RTÉ having to make a number of unenviable choices.

The first major game to lose out in terms of live coverage was the Ulster football Championship meeting between Tyrone and Monaghan in May which, as Sod’s Law would have it, made for a superb game and occasion.

So, the national broadcaster will sit down with Croke Park officials after the conclusion of the 2018 Championships and make the case for an increase in the number of games that is reflective of the extra fare on offer.

We would hope in the nature of that review, when all sides sit down, that there is scope for more games,” RTÉ’s new head of sport Declan McBennett confirmed to the Irish Examiner this week. “That’s what we would want.

There is an understanding however that, while there is a clear appetite for live GAA games, there is a need to be mindful of a possible saturation point.

McBennett also addressed complaints RTÉ’s GAA coverage is currently shoehorned into such a tight corner of the calendar, adding unapologetically that he would like a scenario whereby the Montrose operation covered Gaelic games 10 months of the year.

He was quick to add a rider: That this ambition should not be interpreted as RTÉ seeking live rights currently held by other broadcasters.

I will go back to the BBC and ITV model whereby there are partnerships involved (in airing certain events) but if there is an appetite for sport there then the onus is on the national broadcaster, subject to rights deals, to make that happen.

McBennett, who took over from Ryle Nugent as head of sport with RTÉ in June, sat down for an extensive interview with the Irish Examiner this week which will be published in Saturday’s paper.