TG4 staff dig in over Dublin move

The relocation of the national broadcaster’s Irish language news service from Connemara to Dublin would be a “backward step”, according Dáil Deputy Catherine Connolly.

The Independent TD said moving the broadcast of Nuacht RTÉ away from Baile na hAbhann in Indreabhán to Donnybrook, Dublin 4 would represent ‘a move away from the normalisation of the language towards the ghettoization of Gaeilge in broadcast media’.

According to sources, the standoff between RTÉ and TG4 over branding of its news service is ongoing. The stalemate could result in Nuacht RTÉ being produced and broadcast from Dublin, and not its current base at TG4.

In 2009, when it was announced that RTÉ was relocating its Nuacht service to Connemara, Nuacht chief news editor Michael Lally  described it as “historic”. That €3m relocation involved the transfer of 42 staff and the creation of three new positions.

Deputy Connolly warned the Government in the Dáil this week that reversing the relocation would be a retrograde step for the language.

In a statement to the Connacht Tribune, an RTÉ spokesperson said: “Discussion between RTÉ and TG4 over Nuacht have been taking place over the last number of months and are still ongoing. RTÉ put in place contingency plans to ensure broadcast continuity – but I can confirm that all Nuacht bulletins are continuing to come from TG4 headquarters in Baile na hAbhann.”

As well as taking the service out of the Gaeltacht, the plan to centralise Nuacht back to Dublin would mean the main Irish language evening news bulletin on RTÉ One television would have to be pre-recorded because the studio space is required by the Six One News, according to Deputy Connolly.

The Claddagh-based fluent Irish language speaker, said: “I’ll be guided by what TG4 and RTÉ say but from my perspective it doesn’t make sense that Nuacht would move back to Donnybrook.

“It appears to me that the manner in which that was threatened shows a complete lack of understanding by RTÉ of its obligations to the Irish language, and its obligations under the 20-year strategy for the Irish language.”

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune.