The split screen was ridiculous but I don’t have much sympathy for the Irish racing authorities.
There have been plenty of occasions when the main race of the day in Britain has been in progress, only to end up on a split screen because an unimportant Irish race has commenced.
Most notoriously when the Derby itself had to be broadcast by RTV on a split screen with an ultra important fillies maiden from Listowel, which some genius decided to start at exactly the same time instead of waiting two minutes.