Annual Reports - RTÉ

RADIO TELEFÍS ÉIREANNCharter (continued)IRISH LANGUAGE COMMITMENTS (continued)CommitmentsResultsRTÉ RADIO (continued)RTÉ lyric fm:• 13 additional hours of Irish language programming to bebroadcast in 2007RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta:• Multi-cultural music strand, presented in Irish, aimed atnew communities settling in this country• Provide the RTÉ Guide with one dedicated Irish Languagefeature per week• Develop the content on the RTÉ Raidió na GaeltachtawebsiteAchieved 7 additional hours of Irish Language Programmingwith Ag Rince le Ceol - a new series in Irish in which guestpresenters chose their favourite pieces of music. The fulltarget was not achieved due to schedule changes.Thar Tír Isteach went to air in February 2007 and is presentedfrom Belfast by Éamonn Ó Catháin. The programme hasconcentrated specifically on the music of the ‘New Irish’communities and has received positive critical and audienceresponse and was re-commissioned in 2008.A weekly feature was provided by RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachtato the RTÉ Guide throughout 2007. The features relatedto scheduled programming, thematic treatments of Raidióna Gaeltachta output and highlighted the work of selectedpersonalities and presenters.During 2007 both textual and audio content of the RTÉRaidió na Gaeltachta website was constantly renewed witha new emphasis on programme webpages and a significantextension of our podcasting service.RTÉ TELEVISIONRTÉ One:• Commitment to building our Irish language output andcontent during Seachtain na GaeilgeNíos Gaelaí was the centre piece of RTÉ’s 2007 programmingfor Seachtain na Gaeilge. This was a newly commissioned seriesto mark this important annual event, and drew on the talents ofpresenter Bob Kelly, well known from the popular RTÉ series NoPlace Like Home. The series explored the concept of Irishnesswith our new populations and was well received.Later in the year, poet Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill was profiled as partof the new Arts Lives series, an hour-long documentary on oneof Ireland’s best-known Irish language poets.• Television commits to repeating Turas Teanga in 2007RTÉ Two:• The Den has a policy of using quite a lot of Irish acrossits content, with a particular emphasis on the pre-schoolcontent, where songs and stories regularly integrate Irishwords in a naturalistic way. Television IBD commits tocontinuing this policy and Young Peoples will continue tolook at ways of ensuring its successful integration intoits output. In particular, the major focus on Irish duringSeachtain na Gaeilge will be replicated in 2007.In the light of a planned new initiative both in production andin language learning in 2008, it was decided that the repeat ofTuras Teanga would have a greater impact in 2008, in particularin association with the new programming initiative In the Nameof the Fada. As Turas Teanga was a language course aimed atlearners with some proficiency, it will be of more use to viewersand users when the new 2008 series has been transmitted.This policy continued to be applied throughout 2007. Inaddition, Fluffy Gardens, a 7 minute cartoon commissioned fromMonster Animation was commissioned in both English and Irishlanguage versions. The Irish language version of the full series(40 episodes) was received in September 2007 and has beenplayed twice in Den Tots between September and December2007 adding approximately 550 minutes of Irish languageprogramming to Young Peoples Programming schedule.90