Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the new Senator, Senator Craughwell to the House and welcome the disproportionate representation that the west now seems to have in the Seanad - I believe it is a good thing. In the last days I have expressed concern that RTE is going to get rid of the long wave service, which is the last remaining broadcast radio service with Irish programmes available in the UK. While this move will not affect a huge number of people, it will certainly affect people in rural areas and the Irish diaspora in the UK, particularly the elderly and vulnerable. Listeners can tune in to radio stations online and via satellite, but the DAB service that RTE offers is not available in Britain or the North. RTE has broadcast Radio 1 to Britain on that wavelength since 1932, and many of the Irish immigrants use it to listen to GAA matches from home. For some, it is their last connection to Ireland, and the shutdown, first of medium wave, and now of long wave is severing a vital connection to home for certain vulnerable people. Estimates suggest that it would cost RTE approximately €150,000. There will be a lot of talk of budgets today but in the context of RTE's overall budget this does not seem like such a huge amount of money. As such, I am urging RTE to postpone this move until there are better options that will make RTE radio accessible to all the Irish in Britain.