Written evidence from Ruairí Ó
Bléine
Further to your Press Release of 2 April 2009
I wish to respond as follows:
1. The Irish language is a vital component of
the past and present heritage of all the people of Northern Ireland.
For the Public Service Television to neglect to serve the needs
of the language would therefore be an unforgiveable neglect of
duty.
2. The low level of provision of programmes
in Irish or about Irish which has prevailed up to now is well
recorded and has been widely remarked on. Compared with expenditure
on other indigenous languages within the United Kingdom Irish
comes bottom of the league.
3. Television broadcasting in Irish is out
of step with the positive measures taken to acknowledge the language
by the European Union, by the British Government in signing the
Charter on Lesser Used Languages and through the Good Friday Agreement.
4. The provision of the Irish Language Broadcasting
Fund was a most welcome contribution towards meeting Irish language
requirements. The size of the Fund has been inadequate. Just as
lamentable has also been the tendency to drawn on this fund, not
to provide extra programming out of the individual broadcasting
budgets, but to use the fund to support already planned programmes.
5. While the Welsh and the Scots can be
satisfied that their everyday broadcasting needs are being generously
met by a friendly community and by the authorities, the Northern
Irish are wearied with the amount of struggling and effort expended
in making their voices heard.
28 April 2009
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