RTÉ has said that it has had to cancel plans to air an Irish Sign Language broadcast of the national anthem during the build-up to the All Ireland Football final, because of the unavailability of signers.
Last week, over 100 people protested outside RTÉ sites in Dublin and Cork over the failure of the broadcaster to show ISL interpreters on programming.
They called on RTÉ to broadcast in full the ISL version of the national anthem before throw-in at today's match.
RTÉ agreed to show the ISL version of the national anthem in full on its News Now channel, while a variety of shots would be shown on RTÉ 2 television, such as the competing teams and dignitaries in Croke Park, as well as the ISL signer.
However, in a statement RTÉ said that no signer was available for a full in-studio signing.
It said: "Signing ISL for Broadcast is a specialist skill and the number of signers is limited.
"Over recent days, RTÉ has contacted many signers, both within and outside our rosters. Unfortunately no signer has been able to make themselves available for a full in-studio signing, which will now not take place.
The Irish Deaf Society, in a statement, has expressed extreme disappointment with RTÉ's decision not to proceed with the ISL interpretation of the Irish National Anthem despite the fact that the simulcast on News Now went against the wishes of the Deaf Community.
The Irish Deaf Society said RTÉ had made contact with a number of ISL signers, but due to what it described as 'the last minute nature and complexities with translating to music' none was available.
In a statement, issued through the Irish Deaf Society, the RTÉ ISL Signers stated that they did not have the expertise, nor had they received any training in signing the National Anthem in ISL, unlike their colleague Senan Dunne.
The statement went on to say that, if RTÉ wishes to provide training, they would be happy to work with RTÉ.
The Irish Deaf Society pointed out that a signer was on the pitch in Croke Park and it described as 'disappointing' RTÉ's 'continual refusal' to insert the signer in a 'bubble' picture on the main RTÉ2 screen for the duration of the National Anthem.
The Society said it would be taking up RTÉ's offer to meet to discuss this matter further.
