Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Leader of the House to consider an issue that was raised here by Senator Billy Lawless. I refer to the long wave radio service that is provided by RTE on LW 252 in the United Kingdom and Britain. An update was given in the Irish Independenton 6 March by Gavin White. Many in the Irish community in Britain will lose their last link with Ireland if the long wave 252 radio service is shut down by RTE. I hereby request the Leader of the Seanad and all of its 60 Members to lobby RTE not to terminate this vital link for our many emigrants.Senator Billy Lawless raised this issue here last month and he made the point well. Protests will be held on St. Patrick's Day and on 14 March in Manchester and Leeds. The protests will be arranged by the Irish in Britain. Approximately 600,000, or more, people in Britain are of direct Irish descent. I have relatives in Manchester and London. They rely on this service because the BBC cannot be relied upon to project anything about Ireland. The Irish in Britain will be further isolated post-Brexit. Many people have direct links to the Tuam issue, including mothers and children who were there, and other issues occurring at home, and they will not ever hear anything about it on the BBC or any other radio station without this vital link to home.

Why would we turn our back on the Irish in Britain? RTE could provide it for a very small amount of money, which could easily be deducted from some very expensive presenters and other issues which arise which are wastes of time and space. RTE provides a good service here at home, but it is its responsibility to provide a good service abroad. I call on the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Denis Naughten, to intervene in this situation and to give a ministerial directive to maintain this radio link. Ministers seem to be afraid of getting involved in being Ministers. I never came across a Government that had less ministerial responsibility than this Government.