Media of Ireland

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Due to the shared history of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, there are many shared media outlets between them on the island of Ireland.

Republic of Ireland Ireland, a country in north-western Europe, occupying 5/6 of the island of Ireland; succeeded the Irish Free State (1937)

Ireland, also known as the Republic of Ireland, is a country in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the eastern part of the island, and whose metropolitan area is home to around a third of the country's over 4.8 million inhabitants. The sovereign state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, St George's Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, and an elected President who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach, who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers.

Northern Ireland Part of the United Kingdom lying in the north-east of the island of Ireland, created 1921

Northern Ireland is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares a border to the south and west with the Republic of Ireland. In 2011, its population was 1,810,863, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the UK's population. Established by the Northern Ireland Act 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement, the Northern Ireland Assembly holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters, while other areas are reserved for the British government. Northern Ireland co-operates with the Republic of Ireland in some areas, and the Agreement granted the Republic the ability to "put forward views and proposals" with "determined efforts to resolve disagreements between the two governments".

Ireland Island in north-west Europe, 20th largest in world, politically divided into the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland (a part of the UK)

Ireland is an island in the North Atlantic. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the second-largest island of the British Isles, the third-largest in Europe, and the twentieth-largest on Earth.

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Newspaper

In January 2005 Daily Ireland , which was somewhat supportive of Sinn Féin was launched. It contended (in line with its politics) to be an all-Ireland newspaper, however its sales were far stronger in Northern Ireland and Dublin than the rest of the island, and it closed in September 2006.

Daily Ireland was an Irish daily newspaper which existed from January 2005 to September 2006 to cover news stories from an Irish republican viewpoint. It was linked to the Belfast local newspaper, the Andersonstown News. In September 2006, the newspaper announced it was ceasing publication, with the 475th and last issue published on 7 September.

Sinn Féin is a left-wing Irish republican political party active in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Television

A significant amount of terrestrial transmission overspill exists between transmissions from north and south of the Irish border, with a large portion of the population of Northern Ireland currently able to receive digital terrestrial television broadcasts from the Republic, and many in the Border Region of the Republic and beyond able to receive UK Freeview transmissions.

Border Region

The Border Region is a NUTS Level III statistical region of the Republic of Ireland. The name of the region refers to its location along the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border. It is not a cross-border region, as it comprises the Irish counties of Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim, Monaghan and Sligo. The Border Region spans 11,516 km2, 16.4% of the total area of the state, and has a population of 392,837 persons, 8.28% of the state total. Its NUTS code is IE041.

Cross-border partnership

On 1 February 2010 Ireland's Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan signed an agreement with the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Ben Bradshaw. [1] This agreement will enable viewers within Northern Ireland to watch RTÉ One, RTÉ Two and TG4 on a free-to-air basis as of 2012. [2] The agreement between both jurisdictions will also guarantee that viewers within the Republic of Ireland will be able to view BBC One Northern Ireland and BBC Two Northern Ireland on the Republic of Ireland's free-to-air service to debut in late 2010. A cross-border initiative has always been on the agenda for the Green Party in the Republic of Ireland. However it was later announced that a change has occurred such that BBC services are now to be offered in the Republic of Ireland on a 'paid for' basis and not the original free-to-air basis. [3]

Eamon Ryan Irish politician

Eamon Michael Ryan is an Irish Green Party politician who has served as Leader of the Green Party since May 2011. He has been a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin Bay South since 2016, and previously from 2002 to 2011 for the Dublin South constituency. He previously served as Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources from 2007 to 2011.

Ben Bradshaw British politician

Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter since 1997 and was the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from 2009 to 2010. Before entering politics he worked as a BBC Radio reporter.

RTÉ One is the main television channel of Irish state-owned broadcaster, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), and it is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ 1 upon the launch of RTÉ 2 in 1978. It is funded partly by the government's licence fee; the remainder of the funding is provided by commercial advertising. Because RTÉ is funded partly by the licence fee it shows considerably fewer advertisements than most other channels available in Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Following a broad range of technical work, the two governments have now agreed an effective way to provide for the continuing provision of TG4 by building a new, low power TV multiplex in Northern Ireland. In addition to carrying TG4, this multiplex, which will be part of the UK DTT system, will also carry RTÉ 1 and RTÉ 2. [4] [5]

This would be expected to increase coverage of these channels in Northern Ireland, to 90% of the population in Northern Ireland to receive their services on a free-to-air basis, either through overspill as before or via the new multiplex.

The existing analogue signals will be switched off on a co-ordinated basis in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland at the end of 2012 and more work will to be done between then and now. Digital UK plans to keep Northern viewers abreast of compatible equipment in time for ASO switch to digital and know what sort of equipment viewers might need to receive these services.

Foreseen as part of the agreement between both governments is the establishment of a joint venture between RTÉ and TG4 to run the multiplex which will be licensed under the UK's Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 by Ofcom at the request of the UK Government. This will be a not-for-profit company. In addition, the licensee will have to put out to competitive tender all the elements of the multiplex operation which are contestable and the multiplex will be operated on a not-for-profit and open book basis. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

Television in the Republic of Ireland is available through a variety of platforms. The digital terrestrial television service is known as Saorview and is the primary source of broadcast television since analogue transmissions ended on 24 October 2012. Digital satellite and digital cable are also widely used.

BBC Northern Ireland main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland

BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland.

TG4 Irish language television network

TG4 is an Irish free-to-air television channel for Irish-language speakers. It launched on 31 October 1996. TG4 is also available to watch online live and to view previously broadcast programmes from around the world through the TG4 Player.

Digital terrestrial television is a technology for broadcast television in which land-based (terrestrial) television stations broadcast television content by radio waves to televisions in consumers' residences in a digital format. DTTV is a major technological advance over the previous analog television, and has largely replaced analog which had been in common use since the middle of the 20th century. Test broadcasts began in 1998 with the changeover to DTTV beginning in 2006 and is now complete in many countries. The advantages of digital terrestrial television are similar to those obtained by digitising platforms such as cable TV, satellite, and telecommunications: more efficient use of limited radio spectrum bandwidth, provision of more television channels than analog, better quality images, and potentially lower operating costs for broadcasters.

Digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom encompasses over 100 television, radio and interactive services broadcast via the United Kingdom's terrestrial television network and receivable with a standard television set. The majority of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services, including the five former analogue channels, are broadcast free-to-air, and a further selection of encrypted pay TV services are also available.

Digital switchover dates in the United Kingdom Process of replacing analogue terrestrial with digital terrestrial television in the UK

The digital switchover is the name given to the process by which analogue terrestrial television in the United Kingdom was replaced with digital terrestrial television. It is sometimes referred to as the "analogue switch off".

The deployment of digital terrestrial television in Ireland has taken some time, with the first small tests being carried out in 1998. 2002 saw the cancellation and non-award of the DTT commercial licence and transmission network sale. In August 2006, a major regional DTT trial began in conjunction with major television channels in Ireland including Raidió Teilifís Éireann, TV3, TG4 and the now-defunct Channel 6. By 2008 the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland announced that three groups had come together with proposals to manage commercial DTT in Ireland, which was awarded to Boxer DTT Ltd.

Clermont Carn mountain in Ireland

Clermont Carn, variously spelt as "Clermont Cairn", "Clairmont Carn/Cairn" and Carnán Mhaighréid Náir in Irish is a 510m high peak in the Cooley Mountains in County Louth, Ireland, which is also home to a main 2RN transmission site.

There are four major forms of digital television (DTV) broadcast in the United Kingdom: a direct-to-home satellite service from the Astra 28.2°E satellites provided by Sky UK, a cable television service provided by Virgin Media ; a free-to-air satellite service called Freesat; and a free-to-air digital terrestrial service called Freeview. In addition, an IPTV system known as BT Vision is provided by BT. Individual access methods vary throughout the country. 77% of the United Kingdom has access to HDTV via terrestrial digital television. Satellite is the only source of HDTV broadcast available for the remaining 23%.

The Broadcasting (Amendment) Act 2007 is an Act of the Oireachtas. It deals with Irish Analogue broadcasting systems and the amendment of legislation on Digital Terrestrial Television dating back to 2001. This act amends previous acts, in particular the Broadcasting Act 2001. It was enacted in April 2007.

The media in Northern Ireland are closely linked to those in the rest of the United Kingdom, and also overlap with print, television, and radio in the Republic of Ireland.

Television in Northern Ireland is available using, digital terrestrial, digital satellite and cable.

Boxer DTT Limited was a company that had been awarded the contract to operate a mainly pay-TV digital terrestrial television service in Republic of Ireland.

The Broadcasting Act 2009 is an Act of the Oireachtas of Ireland. It was signed into law on 12 July 2009, although the provisions relating to the establishment of the new Broadcasting Authority of Ireland did not come into force until a Statutory Instrument was made giving them effect on 30 September 2009.

OneVision was a consortium that has been offered a licence by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland to run the pay television services on the DTT platform in the Republic of Ireland.

Raidió Teilifís Éireann Public service (and largest) broadcaster of Ireland, 1926-

Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the national public service media of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on 31 December 1961, making it one of the oldest continuously operating public service broadcasters in the world. RTÉ also publishes a weekly lifestyle magazine called the RTÉ Guide.

Saorview is the national digital terrestrial television (DTT) service in Ireland. It is owned by RTÉ and operated by 2RN.

Easy TV was a consortium that have been offered a licence by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) to run the pay television services on the DTT platform in the Republic of Ireland. It was last one standing and least preferred in the 2008 contest results.

Saorsat is a free-to-air satellite service in Ireland. The service launched on 3 May 2012.

The following is a list of events relating to television in Ireland from 2010.

References

  1. ↑ "RTÉ and TG4 to be freely available in North in 2012 – The Irish Times – Tue, 2 Feb 2010". 2 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  2. ↑ "RTÉ News: Ryan signs TG4 agreement with the British government". 1 February 2010. Retrieved 2010-02-07.
  3. ↑ "Government agreement: Free-To-Air RTÉ in NI, BBC in RoI on DTT platform – Page 9". boards.ie. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  4. 1 2 [ dead link ]
  5. ↑ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster. "House of Commons Hansard Ministerial Statements for 20 Dec 2010 (pt 0001)". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
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