Irish National Broadcaster Violating Statutory Obligations for Irish Language Content Programming - Gaelic League Condemns

News from the Gaelic League:

An Coimisinéar Teanga (Language Commisioner) has published an Annual Report which finds that RTÉ is not fulfilling its statutory obligations under the Broadcasting Act 2009 by failing to provide a comprehensive range of television programming in Irish. 

President of Conradh na Gaeilge Dr. Niall Comer said;

“RTÉ are renowned for the television content they produce and broadcast.  It is scandalous how few Irish language programmes are being produced, and how narrow the range of programming available in Irish is.

In 2017, over RTÉ’s two television channels, over 18,657 hours of content were broadcasted. Only 123 hours, or 0.7% of this content was in Irish.  There is need for immediate increase in the range of Irish language programming being provided.”

Conradh na Gaeilge recommend the following measures be taken with a matter of urgency:

1. A Plan for the Provision of Irish Language Programming to be developed immediately
2. To build on the previous developments such as optional Irish language commentary for sports events, which could be provided for all national rugbaí games, international soccer matches and all GAA programming on RTÉ
3. A channel such as RTÉ Jr to be provided in Irish, which would be an excellent support for parents who are raising children with Irish, and an additional resources in supporting Irish in the education system.

Conradh na Gaeilge will meet with Director General of RTÉ Dee Forbes next week.  We will commend their provision of the Irish language to date - on Raidió na Gaeltachta, RTÉ 2FM and their multimedia platforms, for example, but we will focus primarily on the questions raised in the Language Commissioners’ Annual Report and the above recommendations.

https://cnag.ie/en/news/1232-rt%C3%A9-failing-to-fulfill-statutory-obligations-when-it-comes-to-irish-language.html

The Gaelic League (Conradh na Gaelige) are the main voluntary community organisation that promotes the Irish language in Ireland and abroad, The Gaelic League’s main aim is to reinstate the Irish language as the common tongue of Ireland.  Since its founding in 1893, members have been actively promoting Irish in every aspect of life in Ireland, from legal and educational affairs to the development of media and services through Irish.  Members of the Gaelic League are in the forefront of campaigns to strengthen the rights of the Irish speaking community.