Iconic sports broadcaster George Hamilton was recently quoted by the Taoiseach after Rory McIlroy became one of only six people to get the career Grand Slam.

Micheál Martin said he was reminded of the quote “the nation holds its breath”, as delivered by George Hamilton during Ireland’s penalty shootout against Romania in the 1990 football World Cup.

As that moment comes up on 35 years, Hamilton joined The Anton Savage Show to reflect on his decades-long career in Irish media.

“That particular [quote] just came to me in the moment because I’d been told that the Six One news was taking the pictures as well as the Network Two as it was, coverage that I was involved in,” he said.

“So, I was really aware that if anybody was watching Irish television on that day, the only picture they could see was this – the audience was the country.

“It was a very significant moment because this was Ireland at the World Cup for the first time, about to get into the last eight if he converts it.

“It just came to me that everywhere that people were watching television, this was what they were seeing.”

Soccer - World Cup Italia 90 - Group F - England v Ireland. Image: PA Images / Alamy. 11 June 1990

Hamilton’s voice is often associated with a golden age of Irish sport in the 80s and 90s.

“I got lucky,” he said.

“I came back to work in Dublin at the end of 1984 and Jack Charlton was appointed at the beginning of 1986 and that took off; football took off in a way that it hadn’t. [...]

“By the time the World Cup came around two years later, everybody was on board and there was this great wave that I was able to surf.”

Sports broadcaster career

According to Hamilton, when he began his career, he never saw a future as a full-time sports broadcaster.

“I was working in current affairs and news because sport was kind of an add on,” he said.

“Now, of course, there are sports departments that are populated by tens, maybe dozens of people, but then that was not the case.

“I mean, how I came to go to Argentina for my first World Cup was because RTÉ didn’t have the personnel to send.”

Hamilton said he was sent a letter asking him if he would consider taking on the role of RTÉ’s fourth commentator for the tournament, and the rest is history.

Main image: George Hamilton.