Seanad debates

Wednesday, 18 June 2008

Broadcasting Bill 2008: Committee Stage (Resumed)

 

2:00 am

Photo of Jim WalshJim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

Táim ar aon aigne leis an Seanadóir Ó Tuathail go bhfuil sé oiriúnach duine ón Ghaeltacht nó duine a bhfuil suim agus grá aige don Ghaeilge a bheith ar choiste lucht éisteachta agus lucht féachana. Blianta o shin, craoladh clár an-mhaith "Trom agus Éadrom" ar an dteilifís. Bhí suim ag a lán daoine sa chlár sin, fiú daoine nach raibh mórán Gaeilge acu. Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeidh cláracha mar sin ar an dteilifís chun an suim atá ann don teanga a chothú agus a fheabhsú agus chun na Gaeilge a chur chun cinn.

I support the Senator's request for a representative, not just of the Gaeltacht area but people who are interested in Irish, to be on the audience council. That should be a statutory requirement. We will fail in the promotion of Irish if we exclusively concentrate on Gaeltacht areas. I agree with much of what Senator O'Toole said. The Gaeltacht is under threat because of the influences of English channel radio and television stations being beamed into homes every evening. That will erode the knowledge of Irish, particularly among young people. Therefore, the country at large needs to be exposed to good quality Irish channels. Bilingual channels can be very beneficial in the promotion of Irish.

On Second Stage I mentioned Liam Ó Murchú's programme "Trom agus Éadrom" and the great benefit that was to the promotion of the Irish language. He did that in a very nice and easy way. People watched that programme which was entertaining. There is no reason we should not have such programmes on television and every reason we should. Much rubbish is beamed out on televisions. Quality programmes that promote or expose the public to the Irish language would be welcomed by the Irish speaking population and by those whose Irish is quite rusty. It will not happen unless we encourage and chart a path for it to happen. I strongly support that.

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