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Programme ResponsesAuthor(s): Mark RobinsonSource: Fortnight, No. 253 (Jul. - Aug., 1987), p. 28Published by: Fortnight Publications Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25551263 .

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Programme

responses Mark Robinson continues his survey of

language broadcasting with a report on the official policies of the broadcasting organisations IN POSING THE question 'Is there a case in the north for

broadcasting in Irish?' (Fortnight 252), the first difficulty is that

nobody can be sure of how many Irish speakers there are here.

Figures relied upon by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) suggest that some 20,000 people express the desire to be fluent; others put the number as high as 70,000.What is certain

is that more and more people are learning and using Irish and

that an infrastructure - the newspaper LA and the Gael Scoil

movement are obvious examples - is slowly being built in some

areas to support that aspiration. In Wales, 19 per cent of the population are

bilingual and this is reflected in a well

developed infrastructure: schools, publishing houses, entertainment, community activities -

and broadcasting. But it should again be

emphasised that such gains were not made with

out a cultural and political struggle, in which

many language activists were vilified and

jailed. With the establishment of S4C there has been a separation of English- and Welsh

medium television - the effect of this is not yet clear.

In the south of Ireland, by contrast, where

an estimated one million people have a reason

able familiarity with Irish, the policy on Irish

language items or programmes on RTE Radio

One "has been guided largely by RTE's desire as a public service to meet the needs of a signif icant section of its listeners who wish to hear a

little Irish broadcast every day". Accordingly it is RTE policy to "encourage the natural use of

a little Irish" at appropriate moments in its

general, English language programming. There

are also specific Irish language programmes on

Radio One, including news bulletins, magazine

programmes, and sporting and religious items.

Raidid naGaeltachta, which recently celebrated

its 15th birthday, broadcasts for eight hours a

day exclusively in Irish.

The situation in the north lends itself more

usefully to comparison with Scotland, where

only 1.7 per cent speak (Scots) Gaelic - a

proportion similar to the lower estimates here.

Yet since 1980 Scottish Television and

Grampian have together provided 30 minutes per week of Gaelic programming as part of

what is termed "the local origination require ment" negotiated with the IBA. BBC Scotland, for its part, produces for television in Gaelic a

daily children's programme, a weekly current

affairs series and occasional documentaries.

And BBC Radio Highland transmits up to 26 hours per week in Gaelic.

Language activists here may regard it as

ironic that one of the people responsible for

this service, BBC producer Ken MacQuarrie, could recently write: "Rumours that in the

wake of the Anglo-Irish agreement will come

official status for Gaelic in the north cause

Scottish Gaels to look at their own language still languishing without official recognition."

But, of course, the language question is in

extricably bound up with politics here.

Broadcasting to a divided society calls for a

clear and positive philosophy. In Fortnight 230 former editor Andy Pollak noted: "It is an almost sacred received truth inside the

Are the BBC's antennae sufficiently sensitive to

the language movement?

corporation that the BBC occupies the middle

ground between the warring tribes in Northern

Ireland, and that anyone who works in its

Ormeau Avenue headquarters leaves their

politics on the doorstep." The question is

whether broadcasters should reflect the whole

community - or rather the many communities -

in the north, or whether they should assert an

apparently reasonable, middle-of-the-road

consensus.

The status of the Irish language is a

political issue in the north, as Ken MacQuarrie

observed, but this should not come as any

surprise. The Welsh language movement was

galvanised by the road-sign protests of the '60s

and in the wider context of more conventional

politics it is now accepted EEC policy to

protect and promote the languages and cultures

of small nations.

The manifestations of this politics here are

equally unsurprisingly an inevitable conse

quence of our particular situation. According to

Sinn Fein's Mdirtin O Muilleoir, "The Irish

language is presently used on the streets of

west Belfast to reflect identity and maintain

dignity." Many people feel that the recent high profile of Sinn Fein in lobbying for the

language is not helpful, but if Sinn Fein is the

only local political party with a coherent

policy on cultural affairs this can hardly be

blamed on them.

During the 1985 public meeting called by the IBA to discuss Downtown Radio's re

application for the local radio franchise, there

were questions from the floor on the station's

attitude to the language. Head of programmes John Rosborough told Fortnight that Down town was "open-minded" on the issue, but

added that limited resources had prevented more

varied programming in several areas. He felt

also that programmes like Tommy Sands'

Country Ceili went some way towards repre

senting Irish culture.

Ulster Television's Jim Creagh also

pointed to specific types of programme on

UTV in saying that Irish language transmissions were "a long-term commitment ... but not an immediate priority". UTV does,

however, support Welsh language broadcasting

through the financing of S4C.

Independent broadcasters like UTV and Downtown depend heavily on audience figures and, unless extra resources are made available,

transmitting in Irish would involve taking often popular English language programmes off the air. Such a loss of audience and

consequently advertising revenue would not be

popular with shareholders.

The BBC is to some extent insulated from

such direct commercial pressures and able to

adopt a more disinterested philosophy, as

deputy head of programmes Ian Kennedy explained: "Of course we take account of

audience figures but one of the strengths of

public service broadcasting is that you do take

account of minority interests and give them a

much higher profile than would be normal."

BBC Northern Ireland, he said, was begin

ning to develop a policy on Irish, through schools broadcasts, the daily magazine

programme Rud Eile, and the weekly,

bilingual Meascra transmitted by Radio Foyle. There was not likely to be any increase in the

next year or so, nor any immediate expansion into television, but today's production levels

could be taken as a minimum commitment for

the future. The BBC was formulating a long term policy to take to the Broadcasting

Council and had been receiving opinions from

interested parties, he said.

It is to be hoped that these discussions will look at ways to find a secure place for Irish

programmes in the planned expansion of

independent production within the BBC.

Director General Michael Checkland has called for 600 hours per year of independent production by 1991. BBC Northern Ireland is

expected to commission 15 hours per year, and

to this end opened its doors last month to

more than 40 independent producers from all

parts of Ireland. Whether programmes in Irish

by film-makers like Bob Quinn find their way on to the screens on a regular basis may, in

the end, depend on establishing a quota. Ian Kennedy is adamant that BBC Northern

Ireland regards Irish language programming as

a cultural rather than a political issue. Rud

Eile producer Brian Mullen feels that making Rud Eile an integral part of Radio Ulster's

general programming tends to "take away the

mystique and take the ghetto feeling out of the

language". The idea," he said, "is not to make

people inward-looking but to make them look

out."

Given the intensity of political feelings here, broadcasters' treatment of the language issue may provide a measure not only of their

ability to respond sensitively to what is seen

by some as a political symbol - but ultimately

of their commitment to a pluralistic approach to their multiplying audiences.

Next month: a criticial assessment

of the broadcasters' approaches

28 July/Aug Fortnight

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