Radio

Broadcasting to the Irish abroad: An Ean Factsheet

Ean believes that broadcasting is of paramount importance to the Irish abroad.

There have been several developments in this area:

In 2007, Ean lobbied to have radio broadcasting to Irish communities overseas included in the 2007 Broadcasting Amendment Act. This was successful.

In January 2008, RTE announced it would discontinue its medium wave service, which had provided listeners throughout Britain and beyond with coverage allowing them to hear Radio 1. Ean lobbied extensively on this issue; we were supported by Age Action, the Senior Citizens Parliament, Irish Overseas Broadcasting and the RTE Pensioners Association. Among the documents arising out of this:

• Statement on RTE’s intended shutdown of medium wave.
• Letter from Ean published in the Irish Times.
• Full coverage in Ean’s Newswatch Radio archive.

Toward the future

Television

In March 2008, Minister for Environment Eamon Ryan announced that Diaspora TV would launch in March 2009. This move was welcomed by Ean and by the Irish community in Britain, which has been lobbying for this development for some time.

See the press release from the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.

Radio: Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM)

Ean believes that the best way to reach our emigrants – and indeed all citizens on the move throughout Europe – will be through digital radio, specifically the Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) format. DRM has enormous potential to reach across a wide area, using low power – but first, there need to be receivers available at a low cost.

DRM has been tested by RTE on its Longwave 252 channel last year; it was received clearly in Europe. Hear samples from the tests.

• Find out more about DRM – visit the DRM.org website.
• Signalling a new era for Irish radio reception in Europe.