For some peculiar reason, we do not do gameshows well. We have tried, we have imitated and we have persisted but there is nothing really happening on that front.

Indeed, the late Gerry Ryan presided over some of the worst gameshows on the television going back the years and this would prompt any sensible being to wonder why do we bother.

But yet RTE seem to be fixated on trying to come up with a gameshow of some description and more often than not it is an attempt to keep one of their regular presenters in gainful employment. Another ‘jobs for the boys’ exercise.

We used to poke fun at programmes like Cross Country Quiz and Where In The World (isn’t Therese Lowe commanding quite a new profile at the moment, come to think of it) but at least they require some bit of an effort on the part of the contestants. Basically, they had to kick their brain into action by answering a question.

However, in the first series of Who Knows Ireland Best, presented by Derek Mooney, the contestants are asked to guess the answers from a multiple choice selection and it is based on opinions sourced from the great Irish public on such invigorating issues like should the man pay for the meal on the first date or if the public at large believe what it says in their star signs. Stunning stuff.

It is like watching a poor combination of Family Fortunes and Bruce Forsyth’s Play Your Card’s Right which are both based on the opinions of 100 people surveyed, but in the case of Derek Mooney’s effort, it is as dead as a doornail. In typical RTE style, he sits behind the safety of a desk while his guests sit on couches either side, making for an utterly tedious atmosphere.

Even though the programme is half an hour in duration, he still manages to ask only around eight or nine surveyed questions which adds to the boredom and while this first season is coming to an end, they really shouldn’t bother with a second one. Christ, it is worse than listening to a debate on why we should be keeping the Vatican embassy open.

For more, read this week's Connacht Sentinel.