The Irish Language and Television: National Identity, Preservation, Restoration and Minority Rights

This paper examines the new Irish language television channel, Teilifís na Gaeilge. The politico-ideological and economic environments are assessed as factors influencing the formulation of the policies in which Irish language television is and has been placed. It is argued that the aims of the restoration and preservation of Irish, which are related to the building of the nation, are ideologically unacceptable in the current environment and that the economic arena of competition, in which RTÉ television operates, hinders it from providing a public service for the Irish speaking minority. It is argued that the new channel must be separate from RTÉ and founded on a minority rights policy.