This decision comes five years after RTÉ announced the planned termination of the service. The closure was postponed following a public response from the Irish community in Britain.
Irish organisations that support the Irish community in Britain welcomed the news, Leeds Irish Health and Homes tweeted “Wonderful news!! We are so delighted and so many of the Irish community in Leeds will be too! Staying connected with home – what could be better.”
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had funded research into the issue and the work was carried out by the Social Policy Research Centre at Middlesex University in partnership with Irish in Britain. Published in 2016, the report recommended that RTÉ continue the service, but in the longer–term look to switchover to digital platforms in Britain.
A licence to broadcast the longwave service digitally was however denied by UK regulator Ofcom on the grounds that RTÉ is a non–UK broadcaster.
Instead, RTÉ will upgrade its mast at Summerhill. The necessary equipment is expected by mid–September 2019, but once remedial work commences, longwave service will have to be temporarily suspended for an estimated ten weeks.
The longwave report found that while elderly listeners were predominant, the service still appealed to a range of age groups and generations in Britain who listened regularly. For a majority of those surveyed, RTÉ Radio 1 on longwave was seen as a “lifeline”.
Hildegarde Naughton TD, Chair of the Oireachtas Communications Committee, who announced the upgrade, said that RTÉ’s longwave “serves as an invaluable link between the diaspora and home.”
She added that she will work with the committee “to explore other longer terms alternative solutions to ensure this service continues.”