RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta

Coordinates: 53°17′24″N 9°33′21″W / 53.2900°N 9.5559°W / 53.2900; -9.5559
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
RTÉ Radio 1
RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ lyric fm
RTÉ Pulse
RTÉ 2XM
RTÉ Jr Radio
RTÉ Chill
RTÉ Gold
RTÉ Radio 1 Extra
History
First air date
2 April 1972
Links
Websitewww.rte.ie/rnag/

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (Irish pronunciation:

Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). The station is available on FM in Ireland and via satellite and on the Internet. It celebrated 40 years on air on 2 April 2012.[1] The station's main-headquarters are in Casla, County Galway with major studios also in Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal and Ballydavid, County Kerry
.

History

Background

After the

Irish-language radio service for the Gaeltacht community and more widely were sympathetic to Irish culture which included language revival, but the project was frustrated due to economic reasons and came to little.[3]

If we do not revive and develop Irish, we must inevitably be assimilated by one of these two communities (United Kingdom or the United States), or by the combined power by which they must eventually form and in that case our name and tradition and history will vanish out of human ken and our national individuality will be lost.

— P. S. O'Hegarty, Secretary of the Department for Posts and Telegraphs, 1924.[4]
Éamon de Valera, Taoiseach and later President of Ireland, supported the idea of establishing a Gaeltacht radio station.

As the Irish language was valued as part of Irish national identity and a marker of the young state's independence, there were some broadcasts in the language such as Nuacht and Tréimhseachán Teann (shows with English equivalents), the latter written by

Radio Éireann and still only had one channel, with limited broadcasting hours, often in competition for listeners with BBC Radio and Radio Luxembourg
.

In the 1950s, a general

imperative.

Foundation

Conamara
Gaeltacht.

Easter Sunday programming. During the very first broadcast, the main station at Casla, County Galway was not yet finished and the studios in County Kerry and County Donegal were still in construction, so it was broadcast from Galway. The first Ceannaire (Controller) Pádraic Ó Raghallaigh opened the show, which was followed by a recording from President Éamon de Valera. A recording of Seán Ó Riada's Irish-language Mass, Ceol an Aifrinn (which includes the hymn Ag Críost an Síol) from the Seipéal Mhic Dara at Carraroe
was also played.

At foundation, the station began with a staff of seven, including six former teachers and a businessman: Ó Raghallaigh, Breandán Feiritéar, Timlín Ó Cearnaigh, Máirtín Ó Fátharta, Seán Ó Tuairisg, Maidhc P. Ó Conaola,

Gaelic sports coverage and more localised affairs of significance to the community in the Gaeltacht.[7]

21st century

Following the putting in place of a fourth RTÉ national radio transmitter network (used for RTÉ lyric fm), the station expanded to 24 hours from 1 October 2001. Listenership figures are hard to come by, as the station does not make payments to be included covered in the JNLR listenership survey. It is claimed that – as it doesn't carry advertising (the only Irish radio station not to do so) – paying to be included in a survey organised mainly for the benefit of the Irish advertising industry would be a waste of scarce funds. It is generally believed that listenership is high amongst fluent Irish speakers but its appeal among those learning the language is not as high as TG4 because (despite being available nationally) it is widely perceived as being oriented (as its name suggests) towards Gaeltacht residents.

For many years, Raidió na Gaeltachta was the only Irish-language broadcaster in the country; from the 1990s, it was joined by a television service, Telefís na Gaeilge (now known as

Raidió na Life in Dublin, Raidió Fáilte in Belfast and Raidió Rí-Rá
.

In March 2005, RTÉ announced that RnaG would allow songs with English lyrics to be played between 21:00 and 01:00, as part of a new popular music strand. In April 2005, it was announced that the name of this strand would be Anocht FM (Tonight FM). On weeknights the strand includes a new programme, Géill Slí (Give Way), as well as the existing long-running An Taobh Tuathail slot. The new service was launched on 2 May 2005. The first track with English-language lyrics played was "Blister in the Sun" by the Violent Femmes, chosen by public vote.[9]

Locations

RnaG is based in

Baile na nGall in Ard na Caithne, County Kerry; Castlebar, County Mayo; with a smaller studio in Ring, County Waterford and the RTÉ Radio Centre in Dublin
. The station is operated by RTÉ, but has a separate advisory council, Comhairle Raidió na Gaeltachta, which is appointed by the RTÉ Authority. RTÉ also appoints the Ceannaire, or Controller, of RnaG, who has day-to-day responsibility for the service.

Notable presenters

Audience

According to the 2011 JNLR survey, RnaG then had a weekly listenership of 100,000 which equates to a 3% market share. This is similar to Welsh-language BBC Radio Cymru, with 116,000 listeners and a 2.4% share.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ "RTÉ RnaG celebrates 40th birthday". RTÉ Ten. Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  2. ^ Iarfhlaith Watson (1997). "A History of Irish Language Broadcasting: National Ideology, Commercial Interest and Minority Rights". UCD Press. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  3. ^ a b Féach (6 March 1972). "Local Radio Service at Last for An Gaeltacht 1972". RTÉ Archives. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  4. ^ Rangiānehu Matamua (2006). "Te Reo Pāho: Māori radio and language revitalisation" (PDF). Massey University. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  5. ^ Iarfhlaith Watson (2002). "Irish-language broadcasting: history, ideology and identity" (PDF). Sage Publications. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  6. ^ Tadhg Ó hIfearnáin (2000). "Irish Language Broadcast Media: The Interaction of State Language Policy, Broadcasters and their Audiences". University of Limerick. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  7. ^
    Irish Times
    . Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  8. ^ "RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta celebrates 40 years on the air". Gaelport. 3 April 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
  9. ^ "Industry News". web.archive.org. 3 May 2010. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Language Scheme for RTÉ 2015-2018" (PDF). RTÉ.
  11. ^ Thomas, Huw (6 August 2015). "BBC Cymru Wales loses listeners" – via www.bbc.com.

Bibliography

External links

53°17′24″N 9°33′21″W / 53.2900°N 9.5559°W / 53.2900; -9.5559