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Hats off to new RTÉ Diaspora channel
By Fiona Audley
 TELEVISION
fans have less than a year to wait to see their favourite RTÉ programmes
broadcast in Britain as a new channel gets the green light from the Irish
Government.
Diaspora TV, a channel for the Irish abroad, will be up and running by
St. Patrick’s Day 2009 it was announced by Communications Minister
Eamon Ryan on Monday, March 17.
He said: “The 2001 Census in Britain records a figure of 850,000
Irish-born people living in Britain and there is many more of direct Irish
descent.
“I know that many of these people have been looking for an RTÉ
channel for some time and I am pleased that on foot of last year’s
Broadcasting Act, this new channel will be up and running by next St.
Patrick’s Day.”
The channel will be available via Freesat — a free-to-air digital
satellite service — which is due to launch in England this spring.
Diaspora TV will offer a hybrid of RTÉ One and RTÉ Two programming,
with additional material from TG4 but viewers will need to purchase a
viewing box to access the service.
It also boasts the inclusion of ‘home-grown Irish programming, of
interest to Irish communities abroad’ and will carry the One, Six-One
and Nine O’Clock news bulletins live.
An RTÉ spokesperson said: “We are in the early stages with
Diaspora TV at the moment so have no more specific details regarding the
new channel.
“We do know it will be up and running by St. Patrick’s Day
2009 and are delighted that we are able to extend the service to the Irish
community in Britain.”
Minister Ryan will now work closely with the Foreign Affairs minister
Dermot Ahern in order to ensure vulnerable groups in Britain are supported
in receiving the service.
He added: “This new channel will provide the Irish with a very valuable
link to home.”
The Department of Communications’ announcement comes after a sustained
campaign by The Irish Post and complaints from many Irish immigrants in
Britain about the lack of RTÉ television abroad.
Yet while news that Diaspora TV will be on air in less than 12 months
will be welcomed by many, elsewhere the battle rages on to stop RTÉ
Radio dropping their medium wave service later this month.
See next week’s Irish Post for all you need to know about getting
Diaspora TV. |
