Media in the Republic of Ireland

1. Radio and Television

2. Newspapers

The Irish media landscape is more similar to that of the United Kingdom than media in the rest of Europe.  The Troubles in Northern Ireland led to some restrictions on press freedom, though these were primarly in the Republic. The 1960 Broadcasting Authority Act allowed the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs to direct Radio Telefís Éireann "not to broadcast any matter, or any matter of any particular class". This was used between 1971 and 1994 to prevent broadcasts of supporters of violence on RTÉ.

Radio and Television

National radio and television services are operated by Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ), the public broadcasting company which transmits on two television and five radio channels. RTÉ Television began broadcasting in 1961.  RTÉ is funded by licence fees and the sale of advertising time. While many people in Ireland still receive their television via the off-air networks (run by RTÉ Network Limited), more than half subscribe to multichannel television networks, the biggest of which in Ireland is British Sky Broadcasting, which broadcasts a digital satellite television service to the entire island. Viewers in Northern Ireland can receive RTÉ via this service, and viewers in the Republic of Ireland can receive the BBC via this service In addition to the wide availability of British radio and television programming, satellite broadcasts (e.g. CNN, EUROSPORT) are achieving an increasing audience. At peak time almost 70% of the TV viewers are tuned in to British television or satellite.
Irish speakers are served by RTÉ's dedicated radio channel, Radio na Gaeltachta and by TG4, an Irish language television channel.
The first known radio transmission in Ireland was a call to arms made from the General Post Office in O'Connell Street during the Easter Rising. The first official radio station on the island was 2BE Belfast, which began broadcasting in 1924. The Republic of Ireland has five national radio stations are operated by RTÉ. The Radio and Television Act 1988 established the Independent Radio and Television Commission which has responsibility for licensing and overseeing the operation of independent radio and television broadcasting. In recent years, quite a number of independent regional radio stations and community radio initiatives have emerged all over the country and have gained a substantial audience. There is a national independent commercial radio station, Today FM  and a national independent commercial television station, TV3, both of which were launched in 1998.

Useful Links:
Raidio Teilifís Éireann: www.rte.ie
TG4:   www.tg4.ie
TV3:   www.tv3.ie
Today FM: www.todayfm.com
2 FM:  www.2fm.ie
Radio 1: www.radio1.ie

Newspapers

Newspapers have been published in Ireland for over 300 years. Newspapers are extremely popular in Ireland. According to the latest Survey, 91% of Irish adults regularly read newspapers. 

Four morning daily papers are published: The Irish Independent, The Irish Times, The Irish Examiner and The Star. The best selling of these is the Irish Independent, which is published in both tabloid and broadsheet formats. There are also two evening newspapers, The Evening Herald and The Evening Echo and six Sunday newspapers, The Sunday Tribune, The Sunday Independent, The Sunday World, The Sunday Business Post, Ireland on Sunday and The Star on Sunday. The leading Sunday newspaper in terms of circulation is The Sunday Independent which sells over a million copies each week, a very large number considering that Ireland has only 1.25 million households.

There are two Irish language weekly newspapers: Lá and Foinse.   Foinse mainly focuses on Irish language related matters and Gaeltacht affairs, but also contains many other areas including current affairs, national and international events and other features, including 'Foinse sa Rang' a segment aimed at helping Leaving Certificate students with their Irish exam. Lá (a daily) is printed in Belfast and focuses on current events and politics.

British newspapers and magazines circulate widely in Ireland (e.g. The Irish Sun and Irish Mirror) and some titles publish separate Irish editions such us the Irish edition of The Sunday Times. The style and content is much the same in the British and Irish versions but stories of Irish interest will also be included.

There are quite a large number of local weekly newspapers, with most counties and large towns having two or more newspapers. There are also about 60 local newspapers usually published weekly and a wide variety of magazines dealing with current affairs, economic issues and leisure interests. Curiously Dublin remains one of the only places in Ireland without a major local paper.

The main Irish publications are often strongly identified with a political agenda. The Irish Times is probably Ireland's most liberal newspaper on social issues, whereas the Irish Independent is seen as more conservative. None of the main Republic of Ireland newspapers are now defined as allied with a particular political party, although the Irish Press when published was staunchly pro-Fianna Fáil, and the Irish Times was seen prior to the 1960s as being pro-Unionist. Opinion on Northern Ireland is as diverse as that in the general public, ranging from the strongly anti-Republican line of the Sunday Independent to the more sympathetic Sunday Business Post.

Useful Links:
The Irish Times: www.ireland.com
Irish Independent: www.unison.ie
Irish Examiner: www.irishexaminer.ie
Sunday Business Post www.thepost.ie
The Sunday Times: www.sunday-times.co.uk
Sunday Independent: www.unison.ie
The Sunday Tribune: www.tribune.ie
Evening Echo:  www.eecho.ie
Foinse:  www.foinse.ie

 

Patricia Levy 2000 Culture Shock! Ireland Graphic Arts Center Publishing Company

The text was composed by using the relevant materials of...

1. www.eu2004.ie, the official website of the Irish Presidency of the EU © Government of Ireland 2004