Cathal BarryRTÉ’s decision to switch off its longwave transmitter meaning listeners will no longer be able to tune in to religious services on their radios has been strongly criticised.
Former communications minister Éamon Ó Cuív said he was “very disappointed” by the move.
The Catholic bishops have also voiced concern that the decision to end longwave transmissions at the end of the month will “adversely affect” the sick and housebound who rely on their radios to listen to Sunday Mass.
The service will cease transmission on Monday, October 27, and the broadcaster insists that the vast majority of RTÉ Radio 1 listeners will be unaffected by the move. However, Mr Ó Cuív said: “It doesn’t appear that RTÉ know their listenership on longwave and the amount of people they will be discommoding by terminating it. They have no idea of the demographic involved,” he told The Irish Catholic.
A spokesman for the hierarchy said that the Church was concerned that switching off the longwave transmission may lead to some current listeners becoming isolated.
“Whilst there is no objection to closing down expensive and obsolete technology, bishops are especially concerned that moving to a digital platform in such a short timeframe will adversely affect a segment of the audience on the margins: the elderly, rural and financially pressed – who are all licence payers – and that they will be particularly disenfranchised by this unilateral decision by the national broadcaster.
“RTÉ is not serving the public interest by its proposed solution in this case,” the spokesman said.
Mr Ó Cuív also criticised the rushed nature of the decision saying “RTÉalso don’t seem to have a plan to inform people of the alternatives available or explain it to them. Leaving people to figure it out for themselves is not satisfactory,” he said.
Sunday religious services will continue to be broadcast on RTÉ’s DAB service, although this covers just 54% of the population in Cork, Limerick and the greater Dublin area.