11:17 Thursday January 20th 2005

A survey conducted for the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has revealed widespread support for Irish language radio services targeted at young people.

Announcing the results of the study today, Galetacht Affairs Minister Eamon O'Cuiv said 75% of the 1,200 people surveyed expressed support for an Irish language radio station dedicated solely to young people.

3.4% of respondents said they listened to Irish language radio daily, while 25% said they listened to it on a less frequent basis.

Mr O'Cuiv claimed the survey "shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Irish public supports the work that the Government is doing" to improve the range of services available to Irish speakers.

cool!

As an adjunct to that, with braodband services, native speakers could do webcasts or on-line radio for very cheap, should technical skills be there. In fact a cross Island, cross Atlantic version is possible.

2 radio on the net sites as gaeilge:

Someone is doing this: http://www.liveireland.com/
from Dublin. It looks like a comercial enterprise.

On the other hand this is not: http://www.iol.ie/~rnl102/
come on, a domain name and a decent site cost very little these days, I mean Did Peig Sayers code the website with some 19th century HTML?

Be professional and Represent Represent!

Jax

For those of you who may not know, it was announce recently that a Philadelphia television station has purchased broadcast rights for Ros na Rún. This is the first time that any Irish language television program produced in Ireland has been purchased by a main stream broadcasting corporation on the western side of the Atlantic. Very cool!

a "cool" station that the youth will actually listen to would be a grand thing to stir up more usage...

A "cool" station, hmm, we'd need:

Sex
Drugs
Violence
Music
Havin' the craic

Gabh mo leithscéal, sin:

Gnéas
Drugaí
Foréigean
Ceol
An chraic

Na torthaí ar fad:

http://www.bci.ie/news_releases/news_211.html

For anyone who's interested in more live webcast stations in Irish...

RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
http://www.rte.ie/rnag/

Does anyone know of some others?


-jonom

There are only two other full time Irish stations, both community/voluntary stations.

Radió na Life Live stream here http://homepages.iol.ie/~rnl102/fuaim.html - but Windows Media

Radió Fáilte in Belfast don't seem to have an internet presence.

Also, there is an album top forty with presentation in Irish distributed by BCI to local stations - some might have it online.

And of course there are the Blas archives from BBC Ulster

http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/irish/blas/index.shtml

http://www.bci.ie/news_releases/news_211.html

Dúirt sé:

"Preas Ráiteas 2005

Le Seoladh Amach: 20 Eanáir 2005"

Shola Ama? Ar bhfuil Shola Ama ar an 'liosta-ceol' ar an stáisiún nua?

Bhuel, tá a cheol 'liosta', cibé ar bith!

Jax

"Also, there is an album top forty with presentation in Irish distributed by BCI to local stations - some might have it online"

fair dinkum, but its a bit of the auld 'Tá mé ag speaking the píosa focail, sure are'nt we great, ar chor ar bith. Oh tá an song-nua at coming, anois' etc with a Dubliner who it is obvious by the sound of him is with a perma-smile, the way a lot of a líofa lofa types and cainteoir líofa from outside the gaeltachtaí can be, that horrible smile of arrogance.

Still onward ho! I think a transmitter should be set up at Kinsale, for 'ironic histonics' purposes...

Jax

Jax. céard sa diabhail atá ar bun agat?

"le seoladh amach" -> to be released.

Normal PR speak for "don't publish before"

And stop being such a damn knocker.
I haven't listened to the top forty albums, but what is wrong with the concept?

A chairde,
Mar eolas daoibh, this is very similar to one of the strategies that was adopted by Catalans in the early-mid 1980s to get their language better established among young people.
They provided radio and (even more so) television programmes in the language which were intended to attract young people (in particular) because of their content. So, for example, you had Dallas which, for the benefit of younger readers, was the big American soap of the time, shown in Catalan before it was available in Castilian, and Neighbours which, for the benefit of trans-Atlantic readers, was the big Australian soap of the time and the first introduction of the "Kylie Minogue phenomenon" to the Northern hemisphere, showing on Catalan television when it wasn't even on Castilian language television at all.
Those sort of programmes together with excellent live coverage of big sporting events, particularly football (soccer) and basketball with Catalan language commentaries, and music/magazine type programmes, presented by good-looking, lively young Catalan speakers, were the ones which developed a mass audience for Catalan language broadcasting and were major contributers to the success of Catalonia's linguistic normalisation programme. If only someone would do the same for Irish.
I bet the viewing figures for Ireland's forthcoming World Cup qualifying matches wouldn't got down at all if RTÉ decided to show them with Irish only commentary.
All it would require would be some real commitment on behalf of broadcasters to make Irish the first language of the nation. Sadly, though, I can't see that happening.
Mise le meas,
Chris

Aonghus,
whats my problem? None. I understand the phrase, as it was in the context of a press release. I don't know what country you are from, but the British songstress 'Shola Ama' had a few hits between 1997 and 2001 in UK I think. Been similar to 'seoladh amach' I asked was the girl going to be on the new radio station (she has stopped recording due to a 'nose dive' in her career after becoming addicted to cocaine...). It was a somewhat bilingual pun, which you I hope will see as harmless on retrospect, and me, as been actually not very funny.

There is nothing wrong with the concept at all. I hope though, its a symptom of increasing bi-lingualism nationally, and not just a symbol of 'Oirishness'. I don't want to insult any Irish Americans here, but if you are Irish thru spending ones life or many years here, you will be more nuanced on Irish atitudes and be very suspecious when one hears hypocracy.

Example: Spin 103 FM out of Dublin. Perhaps the 'most youthest' station in the Republic. Contract won in late nineties to provide among other things Irish langue programmes, community info etc. Today FM, formally Ireland FM, Irish langue as I recall 20% of output as part of bid. No Irish. Spin is part owned by Dennis O' Brien, a communications (cliche time!) guru who has no interest in the langue. His field is mobile communications. I think he may be selling out to Scottish Radio Holdings or similar name. No interest either.

Spin then is one of the first to get the BCI Top 40 packaged deal, which is a good gesture, but based upon the original intents by law, is a farce. Most national stations get the license by including in their proposed forte, Irish programmes, but never deliver.

A 'top down' approach to Irish is not going to happen in Ireland, unless like in Catalonia, there is enough of a base to push it thru enough so it is polically important. Another bonous to Catalonia is regional govenment. Ireland is centralised and monotonic. The higher levels of business and the public sector are rotten thru and thru (based on the notion of intent or plan in relation to action). I can't begin to impart to you how unimportant it is to these people the role of Irish.

Eircom the national telcom says that in 2020 broadband will be available where I grew up. 2012 in the regional town. By 2003 the right to other providers to open up 'local loops' was won, and provide rent lines to people. By Jan. 2004 only 3000 people in Rep of ireland could get piped broad band. Now 100% in the North. Broadband is like water to small businesses today, it is a nessecity. Where do you think Irish falls, in a country where you can barely use the internet?

I'm not pessimistic about Irish at all. I don't have any problem with more public awareness of the langue. I'd love more. But I grew up here, and I pay no credience to it, when its mostly gesture not action.

There is nothing stopping people setting up gaeltachtaí nua, doing web based radio stations, leaning to speak, native/fluent speaker making businesses from software, or journalism, and services and setting a higher standard for us all to aspire to. People create things thru pooled skills and faculties. With group intent we can get the langue thru this most difficult of historical periods, and the worst is over. But I know Ireland, and I assure you the revival will not be govenment led (despite Ó Cuiv's excellent work in Conemara years past and his work today), but then if it was it would be inept and civil servents would want pay rises for it, and after getting the money prior to commencing refuse to learn it, and so all services would not be available in the langue! Thank heavens the choice is not been put in their hands. Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise,

Jax

I live in Ireland Jax. I grew up here. I am perfectly aware of the hypocrisy.

However, I don't see any alternative to a mix of top down and bottom up approach.

The simple fact is that the State, up to the language act, was a major contributor to killing Irish in the Gaeltacht by forcing people to do their business in English.

As for private stations not living up to their commitments - why should they when the state broadcaster RTÉ failed for years in its commitments?

And I freely admit I missed your pun because I don't know who Shola Ama is.

And the "don't be a damn knocker" referred to the top forty - as far as I know, the presenter, while a learner from Dublin is quite fluent. (I heard him being interviewed on RnaG).

The research shows that this is the kind of program people want - so providing it is a good move.