The competition is in run in association with BBC Sport Northern Ireland, Ulster Rugby and the Northern Ireland Sports Council.The four finalists are David Burke from Belfast, Paul Galbraith from Enniskillen, Dan Strange from High Wycombe and Nick O’Neill from Kingston Upon Thames.  They will each record a five-minute commentary at Ravenhill on Friday April 27th when Ulster are hosts to Glasgow Warriors in the Magners League.

The lucky winner of the competition will get the opportunity to spend a day with BBC Sport Northern Ireland and work at a rugby outside broadcast and will also receive a high-specification mobile phone with £100-worth of Pay AsYou Talk vouchers from Vodafone, along with other prizes from Ulster Rugby and the Sports Council.  The three runners up will also receive an array of great prizes.

Pauline Quigley, Head of Vodafone Northern Ireland, said, “We are very excited about the talent demonstrated by the entrants in this competition and we congratulate the four finalists and wish them the very best of luck.”

Padraig Coyle, Senior Radio Producer with BBC Sport Northern Ireland, said, “Having listened to the entries of the four finalists I know that the standard in the finals will be very high and the final result is likely to be a very tight-run thing.  Sports commentating for radio is an art all of its own, creating exciting word pictures for the listeners.  I wish the four finalists every success.”

Ulster player, Justin Harrison, who has agreed to be one of the judges of the competition, says, “With so many of Ulster’s games covered by BBC Radio Ulster I know how important the live commentary of the game is to people that either can’t travel to Ravenhill or to away games. I wish the four finalists the best of luck, both in the competition and in their future careers.”

Richard McCormick of the Northern Ireland Sports Council, said, “Judging by the standard of the entries, this promises to be a hard-fought final.  The Sports Council is delighted to be involved with a competition which encourages involvement of any kind in sport.” 

Living where he does – a stone’s throw from Ravenhill – it would be unusual if David Burke did not have an interest in rugby. He has been going to Ulster matches since he was five and looks on David Humphreys as his hero. He also admires Andrew Trimble.   David is 17 and goes to Wellington College where he plays scrum half for the lst XV.  He is currently studying English, Spanish, Politics and PE for his AS exams and would like to study English at Queen’s with a view to being a sports journalist.  He also follows football and is involved in his church.

Paul Galbraith is a 17-year-old pupil of Portora Royal School in Enniskillen.  He plays outhalf on the school’s lst XV and represented Ulster at Under 18 level last year.  He regularly travels to Ravenhill to watch Ulster play and lists Isaac Boss and Stephen Ferris as his favourite players.  Paul is very enthusiastic about sports journalism and would very much like to make a career as a sports commentator.

Although Dan Strange, who is 23, is from High Wycombe, he is no stranger to Northern Ireland and Ulster Rugby.  Dan runs a Skipping Workshop franchise, teaching primary school pupils in Northern Ireland and around the South of England to skip, spending about two weeks of each month here.   Though he did play some rugby while at school, hockey was his main sport and he represented Wales (his mother hails from there) at junior international level.   Dan studied Sport and Exercise Science at Loughborough University and is a London Wasps fan.   Recently he has been working as a volunteer reporter for the IRB at the U19s World Championships.  For as long as he can remember he has wanted to be a sports journalist, and now he gets his big chance!

Nick O’Neill, too, has strong ties with Irish rugby, through his father who is from Dublin and with whom he shares a passion for the game.  From Kingston Upon Thames but currently living and studying in Bristol – Film & Drama at Bristol University of West of England – Nick’s interest in rugby is of the born-again type.  He played rugby while at school but then dropped out of the sport.  But attendance with his father at an international match between France and Ireland at the Stade de France some years ago, rekindled his interest – especially in the analysis of the game.  He constantly watches recordings of Six Nations matches and has always thought that he could make a fist of commentating.  His interest in Irish rugby has led him to an interest in the Irish provincial teams and came across the competition on the Ulster Rugby website.