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(Alt é seo ónár bhfoireann Gaeltachta. Is féidir leat an bunleagan as Gaeilge a léamh anseo.)
A LACK OF fluency in Irish among the majority of candidates in Galway West is among the factors restricting broadcasters from holding Irish-language debates as the by-election for the Dáil constituency with the largest Gaeltacht in the country approaches in three weeks’ time.
It was confirmed in a schedule issued by RTÉ on Friday evening and circulated among candidates in the Gaeltacht constituency that no panel debate would be held on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta programmes, despite the fact that debates among candidates through English will feature on numerous programmes on RTÉ 1 and RTÉ Raidió 1.
The Journal previously received confirmation from TG4 that no debate between the candidates would be held on the Irish-language broadcaster.
“We do not intend to hold a debate on either by-election,” said a spokesperson for the broadcaster.
“It is not our usual practice to do so for by-elections, regardless of the candidates’ ability in Irish, and that is the position on this occasion.”
It is understood that four of the 17 candidates nominated to contest Galway West have sufficient fluency in Irish. These are Seán Kyne of Fine Gael, Killian Keane of Fianna Fáil, Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich of the Social Democrats and Orla Nugent of Aontú.
It appeared at the start of the week that Sinn Féin were not speaking with one voice about the Irish language ability of the party’s candidate, Mark Lohan. On The Week in Politics last week, SF leader Mary Lou McDonald said that Lohan did not have fluent Irish but that he would take part in debates on TG4 and RTÉ RnaG.
On the Adhmhaidin programme on RTÉ RnaG at the start of the week, Mairéad Farrell, SF TD for Galway West, said the following:
“I was clear from the outset that he was not fluent and that he would not be able to take part in live debates or anything of that nature.”
On Thursday, Lohan confirmed in an interview on RTÉ RnaG that while he had some Irish, he would not be sufficiently fluent to participate in the debates.
In the schedule circulated by RTÉ to the various parties regarding its election coverage, all of the programmes that would be covering the campaign up to by-election day on 22 May were listed, along with those on which debates between candidates would be held.
Speaking to The Journal, Fine Gael candidate Senator Seán Kyne was critical of the lack of Irish language provision in this schedule, though he said he understood the restrictions in place due to Coimisiún na Meán guidelines on giving equal airtime to every candidate.
“RTÉ has clear obligations under the Broadcasting Act to promote and create Irish language content. If they are not aware of that, the clue is in the name itself — Radio Teilifís Éireann. They are Ireland’s public service broadcaster.”
“Are they fulfilling their role and their duties under the Broadcasting Act now?” he said.
He also indicated that he himself had not been born with Irish but had learned it, and that other candidates had the same opportunity to learn the language.
“I acknowledge that there will be news coverage of the by-election on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and on Nuacht and Fóram on RTÉ One, as is fitting and right.
“But it is a great shame that our national broadcaster did not take advantage of this by-election to give every fluent Irish-speaking candidate in Galway West the rare opportunity to take part in a debate.”
Coimisiún na Meán guidelines provide additional information on how broadcasters can achieve fairness, objectivity and impartiality in their coverage of electoral events”.
In a previous statement, a Coimisiún na Meán spokesperson had this to say:
“The guidelines provide advice to broadcasters on issues such as the allocation of time between candidates on broadcasts. There is no specific section that refers to the issue of time allocation on an Irish-language broadcaster between a candidate who speaks Irish and a candidate who is not fluent, as is the case in this election.
“It is recommended that factors such as current elected representation, first preference votes in previous elections and the number of candidates in the upcoming election are taken into account. Other factors are also specifically mentioned but it is stated that the factors to be taken into account are not necessarily limited to those mentioned in the guidelines.”
Social Democrats candidate Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich has said it would be important that Gaeltacht communities receive fair treatment at election time in terms of both debates and media coverage.
“It is important that Gaeltacht communities in those constituencies are treated fairly in terms of the attention given to the Irish language — and not only when we are talking about the language itself. We should be able to discuss housing through Irish,” she said.
“We should be able to discuss healthcare, disability issues and transport, and it is a poor state of affairs that this is not possible.”
She suggested that other parties consider putting forward an Irish-speaking representative in place of their candidate to take part in debates on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and TG4 programmes.
A debate will take place on The Week In Politics on RTÉ 1 on 10 May between candidates in Galway West. Candidates from Sinn Féin, Independent Ireland, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have been invited to take part. A TWIP edition on 3 May will focus on the Dublin Central by-election.
There will be a segment on Galway West on the main evening news, Six One (RTÉ 1), on Friday 8 May, with invitations extended to Mike Cubbard — the Mayor of Galway running as an independent — and Míde Nic Fhionnlaoich of the Social Democrats, along with the four who were invited to TWIP, to take part in that debate.
Drivetime on RTÉ Radio 1 will focus on Galway West on 13 May and invitations are to be issued to eight candidates to participate.
It is not yet certain who will take part in that debate, as it is recognised that by-election and election campaigns have a momentum of their own. The results of an opinion poll for Galway West will be reported by Nuacht TG4 on 7 May. This is a poll commissioned jointly by Nuacht TG4 and the Irish Times. The Dublin opinion poll results will be reported on 14 May.
The schedule provided by RTÉ states that RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta programmes will be covering the constituencies, making reports based on the issues being raised by voters, and all candidates will be invited to participate in five-minute interviews on editions of Adhmhaidin to discuss their policies.
There will be profiles of the constituencies and reports on election issues on RTÉ Nuacht bulletins. The same will apply on RTÉ’s current affairs programme Fóram, broadcast on RTÉ 1 every Sunday at 10.30am.
The Journal’s Gaeltacht initiative is supported by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme
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