Irish Post | The SWLing Post

Contrary to a news item we recently shared from The Independent, SWLing Post contributor, Mike Barraclough, notes the following news from the Irish Post:

RTÉ RADIO will proceed with plans to axe its longwave 252 service next year, it has been confirmed.

[…]RTÉ has consistently argued that better use could be made of the money and that listeners should consider other options, such as internet and satellite receivers, to tune in to their favourite shows.

Despite undertaking a survey of almost 3,000 longwave 252 listeners in Britain last year, in conjunction with Middlesex University London and the Irish in Britain charity, the broadcaster will now go ahead with the move.

The survey had revealed that the service was a vital “lifeline” for many elderly listeners, and an important link to their homeland.

[…]The Irish in Britain organisation, which helped facilitate the RTÉ survey, today said that they would be meeting with the consultative steering group in the next few weeks to discuss the next steps for the campaign to save longwave.

Chief Executive Peter McNulty told The Irish Post: “We will be sitting down with the consultative group to review the situation and discuss the research to see how we can move forward.

“The research is very clear that there is a demand for this type of service from the Irish community here in Britain. That link with home is very important.”

RTÉ would not reveal when in 2017 they plan to close the longwave service.

Read the full news item on the Irish Post.

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(Source: The Irish Post)

WITH fewer than three weeks to go until RTÉ Radio 1 brings its historic longwave service on 252 to an end, the Irish community in Britain has responded with fury and dismay.

The move, which was announced with just over a month’s notice, is part of the Irish broadcaster’s new focus on digital platforms.

But the decision to cease transmission, from October 27, was described as a “bitter blow” to Irish people in Britain as well as parts of the North of Ireland.

Eddie Walsh, who is PRO of The Workers’ Party (Britain) in Nottingham, said: “Other options are not open to all of us. I cannot get RTÉ on my car radio except on longwave and I certainly do not want to listen to it on my computer. The current radio ads only refer to the island of Ireland, thus not even mentioning those of us on this side of the Irish Sea.”

He added: “I would suggest that the station has underestimated the number of listeners.”

Meanwhile Irish Post reader Sean O’Rinn said: “I have a small radio beside my bed and listen to RTE on 252 every night. There is no way that I can use any digital apparatus in its place. There must be thousands of Irish people here in England who are in a similar position — we will become completely isolated from our native home.”

The loss of the longwave service comes after the broadcaster closed its London offices in 2012. Tom McGuire, Head of RTÉ Radio 1, estimates that no more than 2,000 people use its service.

RTÉ said that 98 per cent of its Radio 1 listeners would be unaffected by the move. It added that to measure longwave listening numbers in Britain would prove “a prohibitive service cost”.

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