Funferal

RTÉ television for Irish emigrants in UK?

Labour Party TD Emmet Stagg has been pushing support for Irish emigrants for some time now – particularly those who went to the UK in the 1950s and are now nearing retirement, as this group is particularly vulnerable. Indeed Irish emigrants have the highest rate of homelessness of any group in the UK. Today he asked An Taoiseach a parliamentary question about the possible reception of RTÉ television in Britain, something that has been highlighted as “one of the priority demands made by the Irish in Britain.”
Some RTÉ content used to be available through a commercial service, Tara TV, but that service is no longer in operation. It appears that RTÉ is now investigating the possibility of being carried on digital television – both terrestrial and satellite – in the UK. An Taoiseach’s response to Stagg’s question was generally positive, if lacking detail saying that he supported the idea and would follow it up. It seems at present that the means by which the service would be funded is the main sticking point. It appears that license fee funds cannot be used so the government may need to directly subvent the service.