• Nearly 80% of all adults in the Republic of Ireland agree that news and current affairs is sometimes biased towards the views of its owners
• 3 in 4 adults worry that individual people or businesses have too much ownership of the media.
• 84% feel that community radio would add to the diversity of content available to them as listeners
• Only 39% of those surveyed were aware that communities can set up their own community radio station.

News – Current Story in Full.

The technologies in use have changed through the years. When I started tallying, we collated the master tally on paper; within a few years, most parties were using Excel or similar. Sometimes someone would bring in a small portable television, and people of all parties would gather around it when there was a particularly momentous development relayed through RTÉ. In the last election or two there was an increasing amount of SMS messages and calls to friends in other count centres, as well as some activity on sites like politics.ie.

Fast-forward to this election, and how things have changed. Although I’m missing hanging out at the count, and the catching up with old friends that that entails, there’s been a constant stream of data online. I gather from disgruntled voices that RTÉ’s web presence has been far better than their (intermittent) broadcast coverage, so I’ve been able to keep up on the running totals of seats won by each party, and to drill down to individual councils if and when I desired.

Even better has been the coverage at IrishElection.com, where they’ve been collating a mix of twitter-style feeds and original content. Moderated, so none of the to-and-fro sniping and off-topic rambling you get on the more traditional web forums, but still with a bit of character to it. As Simon McGarr, in common with several others has noted, “it has outperformed any other source of information and original reporting in the entire country.” Pointers outward to various analyses of progress in different areas, or other bits and pieces. Also – and this brings us back to the technology issue – the feed includes pointers to Alexia Golez’s live video snippets from the Dublin count centre. Using Qik’s phone-to-web tool, she’s able to provide real-time streams of the results, which are then archived online. I leave the window open, and whenever she starts to ‘broadcast’ it starts up in my browser.

Between all of this, I’ve been able to keep a steady stream – or at least a steady drip – of information coming my way, and to have a mix of solid reports and the rumours and analysis that are such an integral part of the process. However, there’s only so much that the internet can do, which was why I was grateful to the friend who thought to call me late last night, after coming home from the Galway count (which finished around 3:30am), to give me an update from there, and share the free-ranging discussion and speculation that I was missing.

Some other thoughts:

• Some political junkies have complained about the lack of live coverage on RTÉ television, in particular, but also on the other broadcast outlets. I think there’s a role for more regular reports, but the play-by-play is mainly of interest to insiders and junkies, and will be of limited importance, compared to the final results, or the overall trends, once those results are finalized in a day or two. It seems reasonable to taper off the constant live coverage as the results from the counts turn to a trickle, while continuing to provide data on the web, or by SMS/twitter, as RTÉ, at least, has done.
• One shortcoming with the generally useful and comprehensive RTÉ data: they’re only reporting first count totals and candidate status (elected/eliminated) on the web, and then collating total party numbers by council and nationally. I don’t see why they couldn’t be including individual count totals (for the second and subsequent rounds) in their database, particularly since their reporters need to be listening to those numbers when they’re announced, in order to then report on who was elected or eliminated. It would allow those of us who want to drill down into the numbers to use the data for more sophisticated analysis, and build a pool of data that RTÉ could have available for future election coverage. The front end is fine, but I find myself wondering “why was that candidate eliminated?” and “how did those transfers scatter?” RTÉ, with their comprehensive coverage, are in a position to provide that information in a timely fashion.
• I should note that ElectionsIreland are now providing count-by-count updates for the European results. I’m guessing reporting the locals in real time was a bit beyond their reach yesterday. Another indication of what the organizations with paid staff can do, which the volunter-run spaces can’t….
• If RTÉ are the people who should be providing the comprehensive numbers, the web seems to be a better space for the analysis and speculation to thrive. It’s the junkies who want the ongoing coverage, and they are also often best placed to provide the speculation. Better that than constantly-revolving talking heads on TV (though the . A fair division of labour, it would seem to me….
• Counts have always been spaces where there’s been some interaction between the various political camps, as acquaintances (or even friends) who fall on different sides of the party line will often overcome those differences to swap updates and discuss campaigning experiences. That’s also the case in the online space, where activists are discussing updates in a shared space.

Of course, there’s also the substantive matter of the elections themselves. This looks to be a poor election for the left across Europe. We’ve seen a drop in support for PES parties over the past while, and that continues in this election.

Ireland looks to be an exception. Even though Ireland drops from 15 to 12 MEPs, we’re going to go from 1 Labour/PES representative (de Rossa in Dublin) to at least two (Childers in Ireland East), and possibly a third (my old Labour Youth colleague, Alan Kelly, in Ireland South). That last result depends on whether Alan can stay ahead of Toireasa Ferris of Sinn Féin – he was 500 behind her after the first count but is already 300 ahead after the second (thanks ElectionsIreland!). Given that they’re both on around 66,000 votes, and the quota’s over 124,000, there’s still a long slog to go, but I’m optimistic.

Joe Higgins, Socialist Party candidate, looks likely to take a seat in Dublin, and unseat Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald. Four seats out of twelve for the Left/centre-Left is good for Ireland. Fianna Fáil have had a bad election, dropping from 300 local council seats to something around 200 (196 at time of writing, with 67 still to be declared). The seat gains have been split fairly evenly between Fine Gael and Labour, though Labour is still sitting in third place, at 125 as I write. Fianna Fáil will also likely end up with 3 MEPs, tied with Labour and behind Fine Gael.

Declan Ganley, US defense contractor, and founder of the Libertas rag-tag band of reactionary candidates, is polling better than one might hope in Ireland North-West, but still looks out of the running for a seat. Looks like that will stay with the same 1FF/1FG/1IND split, though with a personnel change in Fianna Fáil that will necessitate a by-election sometime soon, if there isn’t a general election in the interim.

Speculation in some quarters that the Greens might pull the plug on the government, after a disastrous showing – they’re sitting at 3 council seats, down from 18 after the 2004 election. I don’t see that happening. They’re so tied into the government’s fortunes that they would be annihilated in a general election. More sensible from their perspective was Ó Brolcháin’s call for FG and Labour to make a proposal to the Greens for them to pull out of government, and create an alternative coalition without having to go for an election, though I’m not sure I see that happening either. It’s worth remembering that we’re heading into the summer months, and once we reach the Autumn, any parliamentary developments will require fresh events to provide impetus for the Greens to pull out of government, or whatever other changes we see.

 I’ve already contacted RTÉ, and include the text of my email below.

A Chara,I wish to express my concern regarding the decision by RTÉ to cease broadcasts on the medium wave band, and hope that the move can be reversed.

Most Irish listeners use the FM band. Those who do not often live in rural areas and are unable to receive an FM signal. The provision of a medium wave signal relates directly, therefore, to RTÉ’s public service remit and the desire that there be a universally accessible broadcast service. The claim that the continued service on long wave will be sufficient does not stand up to scrutiny given the absence of long wave on most modern domestic receivers.

Others have drawn attention to the role of MW in cross-border relations. I won’t repeat their claims here, but would urge you to pay close attention to them.

I would like to draw your attention to one final point. Requiring that those unable to receive FM now purchase receivers with long wave capability places a particular burden on these listeners just a short time before it is expected that all listeners will need to transition to digital receivers (of one type or another). Should the long wave band transition to DRM (as RTÉ has indicated with its tests last year) that would mean that listeners, often the elderly and those on limited incomes, would be required to purchase receivers now, only to have to have those receivers become obsolete within a short number of years. This approach to the changing nature of the broadcast environment seems somewhat short-sighted, and destined to cause disquiet and a lack of confidence among the public in general.

I urge RTÉ to defer its decision on the medium wave transmitters and to open a public consultation on the future of RTÉ’s distribution of content to the public it serves. As a central part of Irish cultural and social life, the Authority owes the public no less.

Is mise, le meas,

Andrew Ó Baoill

LW is not present on most domestic receivers at this stage, so it will be a difficult transition for some people. Thus, in a certain sense, the burden is being moved from RTÉ (who were spending large sums maintaining and operating a MW network) to individual listeners. 

I was subsequently contacted Enda O’Kane, who has been campaigning for some time for the adoption of DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale – not Digital Rights Management!) by RTÉ, particularly on the 252 frequency on the Long Wave band, and who we have covered on several occasions here. He pointed out a number of arguments for opposing the RTÉ move, including the following: 

1. Similar to my argument about transferring the burden/cost of accessibility from RTÉ to individual listeners, Enda points to some of the advantages of MW for the elderly, those with limited vision (since the band is less cluttered it’s easier to tune in a specific station), and those travelling (as you don’t need to move up and down the dial as you move from place to place).
2. Northern Irish audiences: “Cutting service also contradicts the sprit of the Good Friday Agreement. Parts of Northern Ireland, including the Falls and Belfast still rely on medium wave. RTE medium wave, and Radio Ulster from Lisnagarvey, are traditional cross border cultural links enjoyed by all. They serve all ages and social groups.”
3. Emigrant communities: “For the past number of years, RTE has been running its long and medium wave transmitters on close to half their allocated power, thus reducing its service to Northern Ireland, the UK and beyond, contrary to custom and practice, as well as the spirit of the recent Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2006, which specifically provided for the broadcast of radio to our emigrant communities.”
4. Cutting Medium Wave before the Long Wave signal is transitioned to digital is premature, will cost listeners unnecessarily, and undercuts the transition to DRM or other digital radio formats. Noting that RTÉ have installed and tested a DRM transmitter on the 252kHz waveband, but not yet transitioned to the digital standard he argues that
   • “In cutting off the medium wave transmission prematurely, RTE have abandoned a principle which served then well over many years: when a new technical standard is being introduced, it’s vital to maintain the existing one during the transition period to allow the public time to switch over…. The principle has not been pursued here. Medium wave should be recognized as an integral tool in the strategy toward digital radio; and
   • “Those who purchase a longwave radio now will find it obsolete when RTE cuts the existing longwave signal and sends out a digital signal in its place. They will end up having to buy a second radio to continue listening on longwave after this change occurs. For that reason,  RTE must continue with the medium wave service to give an alternative to longwave until a longwave digital signal is sent out.”

 These are important arguments, which deserve consideration and attention. Is RTÉ seeking short-term gains (by shutting off power to the MW transmitters) at the expense of future success of any transition to digital on the long-wave band? Groups like Éan are of course concerned about the immediate impact on “emigrants in Britain and beyond, as well as people in the North” – an important issue in itself – but there are secondary questions about RTÉ’s long-term digital strategy and how they intend to integrate it with their public-service commitments.

Already there are hints that after flirting with DRM they are returning to the – surely clearly obsolete – DAB standard. DAB has attractions for networks seeking to maintain central control and lock out newcomers to broadcasting (due to its reliance on centralized multiplexes rather than distributed transmitters), but I’m very concerned if this is the approach RTÉ is taking to the future of its public service mission. RTÉ has often had a troubled history when it comes to welcoming democratic and participatory approaches to broadcasting and media creation, but one would hope that they would by now be seeing the potential of such approaches. Being central to facilitating active public engagement – over the airwaves and elsewhere – may be the best hope public service broadcasters in Europe have of not being slowly made irrelevant.