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The story
History
Establishment and name
Broadcasting in Ireland began in 1926 with the radio station 2RN in Dublin. From that date until June 1960, this broadcasting service (later Radio Éireann) operated as a section of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. Those working for the service were directly employed by the Irish government and regarded as civil servants.
RTÉ was established on 1 June 1960 (as the Radio Éireann Authority) under the Broadcasting Authority Act 1960, the principal legislation under which it still operates. The existing Radio Éireann service was transferred to the new Authority, which was also made responsible for the new television service (Telefís Éireann). The television service started broadcasting on 31 December 1961, from the Kippure transmitter site near Dublin. Eamonn Andrews was the first chairman of Radio Éireann; the first director general was Edward Roth. At the suggestion of Áine Ní Cheanainn, the Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Act 1966 changed the name of the Authority to Radio Telefís Éireann; both the radio and television services became known as RTÉ that year.
Section 113 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 changed the name of the organisation from "Radio Telefís Éireann" to "Raidió Teilifís Éireann", to reflect the current standard spelling of the name in Irish.
The letter É in RTÉ is often pronounced as the English letter E. However, in the Irish language, É is pronounced [eː].
Broadcasting ban
Under Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act 1960, the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs of the day could direct RTÉ "not to broadcast any matter, or any matter of any particular class". In 1971, the first such directive was issued by Gerry Collins, directing RTÉ not to broadcast "any matter that could be calculated to promote the aims or activities of any organisation which engages in, promotes, encourages or advocates the attaining of any particular objective by violent means". A year later, Collins dismissed the entire RTÉ Authority over a report of an interview with Seán Mac Stíofáin, the chief of staff of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA). RTÉ reporter Kevin O'Kelly had reported, not broadcast, his taped interview with Mac Stíofáin. He was briefly jailed for contempt in a court case arising out of the interview when Mac Stíofáin was charged with IRA membership. O'Kelly refused to identify Mac Stíofáin as the voice in his unbroadcast interview. The interview tape was seized from his house by the Garda Síochána (the police).
In 1976, Section 31 was amended by Conor Cruise O'Brien as the 1973–1977 Minister for Posts and Telegraphs. He issued a new annually based directive to the RTÉ Authority, prohibiting the broadcast of interviews or reports of interviews with spokespersons for, or representatives of, Sinn Féin, the IRA and other named organisations. RTÉ was also banned from broadcasting interviews or reports of interviews with spokespersons for any organisation banned in Northern Ireland under the UK's Northern Ireland (Emergency Provisions) Act 1973. The directives were reissued on an annual basis until January 1993.
During the late 1970s, RTÉ was accused of extending the censorship rules into a system of self-censorship. In addition, a small minority of programme-makers emerged who approved of Section 31, particularly supporters of the Workers' Party (formerly Sinn Féin the Workers' Party), including Eoghan Harris, and Gerry Gregg who opposed that party's official policy. Opponents of censorship, including then reporter and later Irish President Mary McAleese, were portrayed as secret IRA sympathisers. She described this experience as "the most difficult, the darkest, the worst time of my life".
The effect of the Section 31 ban was more severe than the censorship provision introduced in 1988 in the UK. The UK ban prevented the direct speech of censored individuals. Broadcasters then used actors' voices to dub the recorded speech of censored persons. This was not permissible on RTÉ, which was prevented from broadcasting 'reports' of interviews. British broadcasters interpreted the term spokesperson more loosely than did RTÉ, which banned all Sinn Féin members, whether or not they were speaking on behalf of the party. The BBC interviewed Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams as MP for West Belfast on 1 October 1990, speaking on unemployment in his constituency. Larry O'Toole, then an ordinary Sinn Féin member, mentioned this interview in a letter to RTÉ's director of news, Joe Mulholland, on 30 October 1990, after O'Toole was banned by RTÉ as a spokesperson for striking bakery workers. O'Toole then challenged the RTÉ ban in the High Court. In 1992–93, in the case O'Toole v. RTÉ, RTÉ was found by the High Court and Supreme Court to have illegally and unconstitutionally extended the censorship ban to Sinn Féin members who were not speaking on behalf of Sinn Féin. The RTÉ ban did not affect UK stations broadcasting in the Republic of Ireland because, at least until 1988, viewers in the Republic could still hear the voices of Sinn Féin representatives.
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21st century
In 2004, RTÉ and the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources agreed that in the future, RTÉ would operate under a Public Service Broadcasting Charter.
On 29 June 2005, the Minister appointed the members of a new RTÉ Authority, replacing the previous one appointed in June 2000. Fintan Drury, chairman of Platinum Sports Management and also chairman of Paddy Power plc, was appointed chairman of RTÉ. The other members of the Authority were Maria Killian, Patricia King, Ian Malcolm, Patrick Marron, Una Ní Chonaire, Emer Finnan, Stephen O'Byrnes and Joe O'Brien. The new Authority would hold office for not more than three years. On 11 January 2006, Fintan Drury resigned as chairman of RTÉ, citing a potential conflict of interest in his role as an advisor to the organisers of the Ryder Cup golf tournament and as chairman of a broadcaster involved in a row over broadcasting rights. This occurred after Irish government proposals to add the tournament to the list of sports events that must be broadcast on free-to-air terrestrial television, to which British Sky Broadcasting, the rights holders, objected. On 22 February 2006, Mary Finan was appointed chairperson of the RTÉ Authority.
In 2006, RTÉ was involved in a High Court case concerning referential bidding in relation to sponsoring weather forecasts: Smart Telecom PLC trading as Smart Telecom v Raidió Teilifís Éireann and by order Glanbia PLC.
In September 2006, the Government published the proposed text of the Broadcasting Bill 2006. It proposed that RTÉ and TG4 would become separate companies limited by guarantee (CLGs), with the Minister as the sole member of both companies (CLGs do not have shareholders). RTÉ would be legally obliged to agree on a charter every five years, publish a statement of commitments every year, and be under the jurisdiction of the proposed Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. The bill was delayed but finally introduced into Dáil Éireann (lit. 'Assembly of Ireland') on 14 April 2008. The Broadcasting Act 2009 retained RTÉ as a statutory corporation, renamed the RTÉ Authority as the RTÉ Board, and made changes to the way it is appointed. The Act also renamed the corporation Raidió Teilifís Éireann, with the Irish Times noting that this thereby fixed a "spelling error that lasted 40 years". In the meantime, the Broadcasting (Amendment) Act 2007 awarded RTÉ control of one multiplex for digital terrestrial television and gave it responsibilities in relation to broadcasting outside the state. In line with these responsibilities, RTÉ and the Government entered discussions regarding a new channel proposed to launch outside the Republic, which initially had the working title of Diaspora TV and later RTÉ International. In April 2007, TG4 became an independent statutory corporation, having previously been a wholly owned subsidiary of RTÉ since its inception. RTÉ continues to contribute programmes to the channel, including Nuacht TG4.
In July 2007, RTÉ began participating in a high definition (HD) trial in Dublin, showing programmes such as Planet Earth and Gaelic Athletic Association matches. RTÉ announced a plan to launch two further television channels: a general entertainment channel – RTÉ Three (working name) – and a timeshift service for RTÉ One – RTÉ One +1 (working name).
On 24 February 2009, the Minister for Communications, Energy, and Natural Resources appointed the members of a new RTÉ Authority, replacing the previous one appointed in June 2006. Tom Savage of the Communications Clinic was appointed chairman of RTÉ. The other members of the Authority were Patricia Quinn, Karlin Lillington, Fergus Armstrong, Alan Gilsenan, Seán O'Sullivan, Emer Finnan, and Cathal Goan (then Director General of RTÉ, serving as an ex officio member). The new Authority held office for not more than six months, due to changes planned under the Broadcasting Act 2009, which became law on 12 July 2009, dissolving the Authority and replacing it with an RTÉ Board. Under Section 179 (3) of the Act, any person who was a member of the Authority when the Act was signed into law continued as a member of the Board until the end of their term of office on 24 August 2009. Unlike the RTÉ Authority, the RTÉ Board does not have a self-regulatory function over RTÉ, as this was transferred to a newly appointed Broadcasting Authority of Ireland that replaces the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland in regulating commercial television and radio. This transfer helps assuage any concerns over potential bias that could be perceived under previous self-regulation by having a single regulator of public service and commercial Irish broadcasters into the future.
In 2009, RTÉ apologised to the then Taoiseach Brian Cowen for its role in the Brian Cowen nude portraits controversy. Future Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Charles Flanagan called RTÉ's backtracking a restriction on freedom of expression, and Liz McManus of the Labour Party criticised RTÉ for "bow[ing] to political pressure".
On 1 June 2009, the Sunday Independent reported that RTÉ was on the brink of bankruptcy. Such reports were denied by RTÉ, though the organisation acknowledged that, under its financial structure, there were "serious financial difficulties" and a review of its economic procedures was underway to be completed by 2010. On 11 June 2009, the director general of RTÉ, Cathal Goan, reported to the Oireachtas (parliament) that RTÉ was not bankrupt and that it would break even by year's end. On 3 July 2009, the RTÉ 2008 Annual Report was published. The organisation broke even in 2008. On 29 September 2009, RTÉ revealed a proposal for the regeneration of its existing building estimated to cost €350 million. If approved, the project would see the gradual replacement over a 10- to 15-year period of most of the current 1960s and 1970s buildings on the Donnybrook site. The new building would accommodate the switch-over to high-definition, additional channels, and new studios. RTÉ has since received planning consent from Dublin City Council for an application for the redevelopment of the station's Donnybrook site. The proposal for the site's redevelopment was accepted by local councillors in November 2009, with the subsequent appeal window closing in May 2010. The proposal would also involve building a new entrance onto the N11 Stillorgan dual carriageway.
The death of RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan led to controversy for RTÉ, when it emerged that traces of cocaine were the "likely trigger" of the star's sudden death on 30 April 2010. Drugs Minister Pat Carey said he was "a bit taken aback, first of all, by the whole attitude of RTÉ over the last while" concerning the circumstances of Ryan's death. Comparing Ryan's cocaine use to the 2007 death of model Katy French, Carey said that the media were "very judgmental" when French died, but it had now "come home to roost in their own case".
In September 2010, RTÉ broadcast a controversial nine-minute radio interview with Taoiseach Brian Cowen from a Fianna Fáil think-in in Galway. The interview led to increased pressure for Cowen to resign in the days that followed after it was thought that he had been drunk on the radio.
On 9 November 2010, Noel Curran was appointed Director General of RTÉ for a five-year term starting 1 February 2011. He replaced Cathal Goan, who chose not to seek an extension to his seven-year term ending in January 2011. It was announced on 1 April 2016 that Dee Forbes would be the new director general.
In 2011, RTÉ was sued for defamation after making false allegations about a priest. On 23 May 2011, RTÉ aired a Prime Time Investigates programme called "Mission to Prey", which falsely claimed that the priest had raped a woman and fathered her child while working as a missionary in Kenya. In October 2011, RTÉ issued a public apology, stating that the allegations were baseless and should never have been broadcast. The priest said that he had been "living a nightmare" after the broadcaster made the allegations. The issue was serious enough to be discussed in both houses of the Oireachtas. In November 2011, the priest concerned reached an out-of-court settlement with RTÉ, in which RTÉ agreed that it had seriously libelled him and paid the priest a significant amount of money in damages. As a consequence, the managing director of news, Ed Mulhall, retired; the current affairs editor, Ken O'Shea, was moved to another department; and reporter Aoife Kavanagh resigned. The affair was described as "one of the gravest editorial mistakes ever made" in RTÉ's history.
In October 2011, RTÉ was forced to stop a "share deal" scheme that it had offered advertisers when TV3 complained to the Competition Authority.
On 24 October 2011, three days before the 2011 Irish presidential election, RTÉ hosted the final presidential debate on Pat Kenny's programme The Frontline, in which it controversially broadcast an unverified tweet mid-debate which was widely seen as damaging to the candidate Seán Gallagher. Gallagher had been the frontrunner in an opinion poll at that point. On election day, Gallagher received 28.5% of first preference votes in the election, leaving him in second place behind Michael D. Higgins. The Guardian, chronicling the reasons for Gallagher's fall in support, reported that a final RTÉ poll showed that 28% of Irish voters had changed their mind in the last week of the campaign, with 58% of those switching from Gallagher. On 7 March 2012, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland upheld Gallagher's complaint about unfair treatment regarding how RTÉ handled the unverified tweet on the final Pat Kenny debate. On 19 December 2017, it was reported that RTÉ had agreed to pay Gallagher a sum of €130,000 as part of a confidential legal settlement arising from the debate.
Timeline
1920s
Ireland was one of the first countries in Europe to embrace the medium of radio, but the country was a relative latecomer to television. Unlike its European counterparts, the Government of Ireland did not use the medium of television until 31 December 1961. Countries such as the United Kingdom (1929), France (1935) and Italy (1954) embraced television long before Ireland did. Before the launch of RTÉ as the national broadcaster, television services were available, though limited, from Northern Ireland through BBC Northern Ireland (1955) and UTV (1959). The construction of the Divis transmitter in Northern Ireland in July 1955 allowed overspill of these services into the Republic.
1950s
In the late 1950s, a Television Committee was formed; its goal was to set up an Irish television service with as little financial support from the Government as possible. The committee initially recommended setting up a service along the lines of ITV, using five mountain tops as transmission sites, which were also equipped for FM radio transmission. However, since Éamon de Valera was somewhat wary of television, no further significant action was taken until Seán Lemass succeeded him as Taoiseach in 1959. A year later, Radio Éireann was converted from an arm of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs into a semi-state body and given responsibility for television. Eamonn Andrews was appointed as the new chairman. A site for a new Television Production Centre had been found in 1959, and construction began in October 1960.
1960s
Telefís Éireann began broadcasting at 19:00 on New Year's Eve in 1961. The channel was launched with an opening address by then-president de Valera. Other messages were delivered by Cardinal d'Alton and Lemass; following these, a live concert was broadcast from the Gresham Hotel in Dublin. The show, which was a countdown to the new year, was hosted by Andrews, with appearances by tenor Patrick O'Hagan (father of singer Johnny Logan), the Artane Boys' Band and commentator Michael O'Hehir. Television became an important force within Irish culture as it helped to explore topics often deemed controversial, such as abortion and contraception. Development of the entertainment show The Late Late Show began in July 1962, and it is still being broadcast. Such programming helped to influence the changing social structure of Ireland. Telefís Éireann began to explore children's television around this time, producing the groundbreaking show Wanderly Wagon, which inspired a generation with characters such as Judge and Mr Crow.
1970s
In 1978, the Government of Ireland approved the launch of a second public service channel to be operated by RTÉ. RTÉ2 – later rebranded as Network 2 in 1988 and renamed RTÉ Two in 2004 – had a public service remit providing Irish-language services, while also offering alternative services, mainly programming from the US and UK.
1990s
During the 1990s, like other European broadcasters, RTÉ began expanding its services to provide regional variety. RTÉ developed its only major studio complex outside Dublin in Cork. RTÉ Cork opened in 1995 and became a huge success. It also became a large contributor to network output on both Radio One and RTÉ One. Also in 1995, RTÉ opened a regional broadcasting studio in Limerick. In 1996, the Irish-language television service TG4 (previously Teilifís na Gaeilge) was launched from Galway. Meanwhile, RTÉ provided Irish-language services, such as news bulletins (Nuacht) and the long-running documentary series Léargas.
2000s
RTÉ Television began to expand its output through the development of digital television. RTÉ Television services became widely available in Northern Ireland via terrestrial overspill or on cable. (Coverage and inclusion on cable systems vary.) Since 23 April 2002 (18 April 2005 in Northern Ireland), these channels have also been available via satellite on Sky; however, some sports programmes and other shows are blocked to Northern Ireland viewers because of rights issues between Ireland and the United Kingdom.
In January 2007, RTÉ announced plans to launch a channel – with the working title of RTÉ International – which would offer programmes from RTÉ One and RTÉ Two as well as TG4. As of 2023, however, this service has yet to materialise.
2010s
On 26 May 2011, RTÉ television launched Saorview – a public service mux for digital terrestrial television – and Saorsat. RTÉ also launched RTÉ Two HD, RTÉjr, RTÉ One +1 and RTÉ News Now on Saorview on the same day.
For the 50th anniversary of RTÉ television, broadcaster John Bowman produced a history of RTÉ Television titled Window and Mirror. RTÉ Television: 1961–2011, which was launched by Taoiseach Enda Kenny at the National Museum in Dublin on 23 November 2011.
At 10:00 am on 24 October 2012, all analogue television transmission ended in Ireland; RTÉ's television channels are now available only digitally on Saorview, satellite and cable. Also on 24 October 2012, for the first time, RTÉ 1 and RTÉ 2 were broadcast from transmitters within Northern Ireland on the UK Freeview system.
In December 2014, RTÉ made television advertising history by airing the first-ever native HD advertisement in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The commercial was part of the 3 Mobile Christmas campaign. It was created by Dublin creative agency Boys & Girls and was delivered by global delivery specialists IMD.
History
RTÉ Orchestras Quartet & Choirs supported two full-time orchestras – the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra – as well as the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, RTÉ Philharmonic Choir and RTÉ Cór na nÓg.
In 2021, RTÉ and the National Concert Hall were given approval to move the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, as well as the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet, RTÉ Philharmonic Choir and RTÉ Cór na nÓg.
The following groups perform regularly in the National Concert Hall in Dublin:
National Symphony Orchestra
RTÉ Concert Orchestra
Philharmonic Choir
Cór na nÓg
Vanbrugh Quartet
From Wikipedia’s article on RTÉ, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5