3 RTÉ: IT’S YOURS, SAVE IT!


RTÉ veterans and former union activists Joe Little, left, and Brendan Wright, right, with NEC member and ex colleague Michael Fisher, after they received their life membership certificates. Pic: Maxwell.


NUJ’s multifaceted battle to save RTÉ


The National Union of Journalists is engaged in a multifaceted battle to save RTÉ and indeed the future of public service broadcasting in Ireland. As The Irish Journalist was going to press, talks


continued between the Group of Unions and RTÉ on proposals for major cost-cutting and organisation restructuring put forward by management. The talks are being chaired by independent


facilitator Kevin Duffy, former chair of the Labour Court. The NUJ delegation includes Dublin branch chair Emma O’Kelly; sub branch chair Paul Murphy; Fran McNulty, vice chair, TUG; Cearbhaill Ó Síocháin, secretary, TUG; and Séamus Dooley, Irish Secretary. The future of RTÉ was foremost in the mind of


many delegates as they gathered for the Irish delegate conference and since then the Group of Unions and the ICTU have been seeking to put the case for greater government support for public service broadcasting. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has appointed a commission on the future of public service broadcasting in Ireland, with the President of Dublin City University, Professor Brian MacCraith, as chair. The other members of the commission have not been announced and the ICTU Executive Council has supported a call by Séamus Dooley that there should be trade union representation on the commission. The NUJ has long called for the establishment of a commission on the future of the media in Ireland and Séamus called the Varadkar initiative “a missed opportunity.”


He said: “We welcome any attempt to strategically


review public service broadcasting but it should not be done in this manner. Successive governments have failed to support public service broadcasting and a reaction to the financial crisis is not an adequate or visionary response.” In a statement, Séamus said a commission limited


to public service broadcasting would be a “missed opportunity for a strategic review of all aspects of the media in Ireland”. He said: “The NUJ cautiously welcomes the idea of a commission and would welcome clarification of the terms of reference and membership. For many years this union has been calling for a commission on the future of the media - print, broadcast and digital - covering all aspects of ownership, control, market dominance, employment standards and measures to address the lack of diversity and representation of many groups. While action to address the future of public service broadcasting is welcome, there is a compelling case for a wider commission. There is no reason why such a commission could not be established with a broad remit but examining public service broadcasting in the first instance. “Any examination of broadcasting in Ireland should consider what is expected of public service broadcasting but there is also a need to examine how all media organisations granted licences operate. For instance, it is impossible to talk about broadcasting in Ireland today without considering the policy of Communicorp in banning selected journalists and representatives of certain media organisations.”


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