Sinn Féin’s newly appointed spokesperson on Media, Aengus Ó Snodaigh TD, has welcomed the beginning of the Paris Olympics by submitting a Bill which would require our public service broadcasters to make every reasonable effort to end the geo-blocking of audiences in the north.
Teachta Ó Snodaigh, spokesperson on Gaeilge, Gaeltacht, Arts, Culture, Tourism and Media said:
“On the same week as RTÉ received a blank cheque from the taxpayer as part of a ‘worst of both worlds’ response by government to the licence fee debacle, the public service broadcaster took a decision to exclude viewers in the North from the most fundamental public service audiences expect, live news bulletins.
“This fell well below RTÉ’s obligations under section 114 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 to make its service ‘available, in so far as it is reasonably practicable, to the whole community on the island of Ireland’.
“I welcome that RTÉ has since reversed that decision, but it should not have come to this, especially as viewers tune in this week to follow the All Ireland Final build-up and Olympic coverage.
“The Broadcasting (All-Ireland Service) (Amendment) Bill which I have submitted to the Bills Office today would place an onus on RTÉ and TG4 as our national broadcasters to proactively make every reasonable effort to end the exclusion of audiences in the north from their services. These services range from the geo-blocking of programming, to access to audience competitions and the insulting exclusion of the north’s 6 Counties from maps depicting Ireland.
“The recent exclusion of Armagh supporters from competitions to win tickets to watch the All-Ireland Final, in which Armagh is playing this weekend, has only acted to reinforce a feeling among audiences in the north that their national broadcaster does not view them as part of the nation.
“My Bill recognises that certain news, current affairs, sport, and culture events have special importance to the nation, and that the Constitutional entitlement and birthright of every person born on the island of Ireland to be part of the nation extends to being part of these events.
“The Bill further acknowledges that the licensing of intellectual property rights is a complex matter, but would at very least require the likes of RTÉ to proactively seek to resolve any competing claims to licensing rights across the island with the objective of ensuring viewers north and south have equal access across service providers.
“It would also require Coimisiún na Meán to produce a report within six months outlining ways in which barriers to all-Ireland access can be removed.
“I tried to solve this issue two years ago, but Minister Catherine Martin refused to consider my amendments to the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act at the time.
“This Bill would oblige the Minister for Media to engage with the British Government and international organisations responsible for licencing rights for international events, such as the International Olympic Committee, with a view to resolving competing jurisdictional claims and working towards an all-Ireland market for television licensing rights. She would also be obliged to report on progress.
“Each of the 6 Counties are represented in Team Ireland competing in Paris, and my Bill aims to ensure RTÉ treats viewers in their home counties as full members of Team Ireland at home.”
CRÍOCH/ENDS
Note to editor:
You can view the Broadcasting (All Ireland Service) (Amendment) Bill 2024 in full here.
