When broadcast radio began throughout much of the world a hundred years ago, it represented a genuine revolution in culture and society. It transformed what people knew about each other, their access to information and the nature of popular culture. It was a modern, intimate and open medium which dramatically changed the pace and nature of society.
Only a few years after national broadcasters went on the air in the biggest and wealthiest countries in the world, one of the smallest and poorest of the new states in Europe decided that it too should invest in radio.
From a modest start in a few cramped offices in the centre of Dublin, there began a tradition of Irish radio which has been formative for our country over the past century.
Today, we have a diverse and vibrant range of radio broadcasters at local and national levels, and Ireland continues to have one of the highest levels of daily radio listenership in the democratic world. It remains an essential part of our public discourse and community life.
Yet today we are also in the middle of a transformative moment in technology where the momentum appears to be away from broadcasting towards more selective narrow-casting. From moments shared by an entire society to what may become information silos where group identities are reinforced and experiences diverge.
In truth, we are barely at the beginning of understanding the new media landscape, yet I have no doubt that we have a lot to learn from taking a moment to reflect on a century of radio broadcasting and the new parallel world of podcasting which is growing so rapidly.
That is why I welcome the holding of this wide-ranging and ambitious conference celebrating the centenary of the first radio broadcast.
Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le gach aon duine a chabhraigh chun an t-imeacht iontach seo a eagrú.
I want to congratulate and acknowledge Dr Finola Doyle and UCC for organising. The programme represents an excellent balance between general reflection and more rigorous historical reflection.
While obviously defined by the fact that this is effectively the centenary of one broadcaster, the organisers remind us that the wider broadcasting history of our country must also be understood.
Radio Broadcasting in Ireland
2RN made its first broadcast during a period of a decade which was both defined by lingering wounds and a search for new possibilities.
One of the remarkable things about our civil war is how different the aftermath was to that which was seen in the many other new states in Europe which had also seen revolution and civil conflict.
The new generation of historians, which is doing so much to enrich our understanding of the past, has shown that rather than only focusing on division, we should also look at the enduring ties which bound people together.
Ties which meant that none but a radical fringe ever wanted to return to conflict. Ties which allowed major changes in political allegiance and a core democratic commitment to developing the new state.
The idea of emphasising what people shared rather than what divided them is to be found at the very heart of the creation of 2RN and later Radio Éireann.
Almost uniquely amongst new states, there was no demand for a broadcaster to represent party ideology or to impose a fixed narrative on the public.
I believe that this early and sustained emphasis on shared cultures and histories was central to the near universal public support which radio developed.
In my days as a research student in this university, I spent many hours reviewing the record of JJ Walsh, a major Cork political figure of that time and the Minister responsible for the establishment of 2RN.
He was a remarkable and colourful figure who would later spoil his record through adherence to distasteful ideologies in later decades. However, he represented a spirit of those times, that Ireland should both actively engage with modern broadcast technology and do so in a way which allowed a new and unique voice for Irish culture.
The fact that news and current affairs were not included in broadcasting for some time was probably a central element of why we did not have the negative, divisive and propagandistic broadcasting which was seen in much of Europe, especially in the 1930s. Throughout the 20th Century the first building targeted in a revolution or coup was the radio station.
The new Irish state broadcaster went about its business with great energy and innovation. It commissioned a wide range of new work, bringing the diverse voices of Irish and international literature and music into every household in the country. This is of course had major political implications – broadening horizons and creating new and evolving aspirations.
It worked within often tight constraints, but pushed boundaries and helped maintain a window on the wider world of ideas.
It helped create more of a shared civic and cultural life for the new state; however, it is hard not to miss how little was done to show a sense of Irishness which could include the very large numbers who did not share the nationalism and republicanism of the majority.
The new and artificial division introduced to our island by partition was reinforced as we failed to more actively engage with society and culture in Northern Ireland.
Unfortunately, we have not yet gone much beyond the days where our media pays little attention to Northern matters outside of moments of crisis; a situation I am trying to address through the Shared Island Initiative.
In an era when many lived in rural isolation, radio brought the world into Irish homes. It informed, entertained, and comforted.
[From its earliest days radio played a central role in developing a place for the Irish language in a modernising Ireland. Irish was no longer just the language of folklore, seen as a window to the past. Instead it became a more contemporary language. A language through which the events of today and hopes for the future could be explored in new ways.
Radio also opened up the distinct dialects of different parts of the island – creating more of a shared language and an appreciation of the literature, music and personality of others.
Radio also provides a link to home for our vast diaspora, helping them feel close to home, and sustains a sense of belonging, despite their physical distance. This could take many forms.
Breandán Ó hEithir once wrote about an Irish soldier on the Italian Front in the Second World War whose superiors were about to charge him with going AWOL until he confessed that he had gone up a local hill in an effort to hear the longwave broadcast of the All-Ireland final.
Over the decades, radio has evolved — embracing FM, and now digital and online — yet its essence remains unchanged: a trusted voice in a fast-changing world.
What is striking about this is that public trust in and engagement with radio has actually been protected by the expansion of radio licensing in recent decades.
Most countries began broadcasting with a state monopoly, but ours clearly went on longer than it should have.
We have now had nearly forty years of independent local radio, and this has played an absolutely vital role in strengthening community spirit at a time when it is under pressure in many societies.
Local radio has provided accountability where it might otherwise be lost, it has provided a real diversity of voices and it has underpinned the rising success of a lot of local, county and regional activity.
At a national level, it was only in the late 1990s that the airwaves were opened up to different approaches.
I have always been resolute in my public and private support for distinct and state-aided public service broadcasting. However, I think we should do more to acknowledge the public good served by the work of other broadcasters.
They have sought to operate to the highest journalistic standards and have resolutely rejected the ‘rush to the bottom’ seen in commercial broadcasting in other countries.
Their engagement with news and current affairs in particular, is at very least as reflective and non-populist as the non-commercial sector.
Future of Radio in the Podcast Era
Radio continues to play a central role in Irish life, with 80% of all adults listening to the radio every weekday, amounting to almost 3.5 million listeners.
In Ireland today, we still have broadcasting. We still have a community where most people share an information space.
However, as the title of this conference references, there are today huge questions about the future of broadcasting when radio spectrum, significant funding or basic editorial structures are no longer required to reach an audience.
There is no single model for how this new era will develop – but there are important traits which are increasingly common and there are ways of responding which are becoming more urgent.
For many people, the podcast era involves removing the inflexibility of traditional broadcasting. It empowers them to follow their interests and to do so when it suits them.
It is an absolutely positive thing that new technologies enable people to have easy access to more detailed and diverse voices. To be able to spend endless hours listening to your choice of shows on history, or politics, or music or general social and pop culture can be liberating.
But it is also an absolutely negative thing for society when this descends into people living in information bubbles. Bubbles where they choose their tribe and rarely look beyond it.
This is where you end up with societies where people understand less about each other, feel that they share less and, in the most serious cases, where they have parallel ideas of what is true and what is not.
If you only come across one type of music, or political opinions or professional expertise where can you develop the sense of recognition and respect which diverse societies need to function?
This isn’t some abstract speculation; recent research by neurologists has shown that living in an ideological silo can actually be reflected in brain imaging – with tests showing greater inflexibility in cognitive abilities.
Where once the great challenge of society was to encourage people to question others, the lack of a shared information and cultural space raises the urgency of questioning yourself.
I think the loss of a strong broadcasting sector, as well as a wider media which has the capacity to be comprehensive in covering a full range of issues within individual organisations, would be devastating.
Central to this is that media organisations be able to show the expertise and standards which are the core foundation for lasting trust. They have to be more than giving people the opportunity to speak at length.
They have to show that they value balance which goes far beyond the distorting lens of applying binary opposites to every issue. They have to be the place where complexity and context are found.
I and my Government are very clear in our commitment to ensuring that our broadcasters have the appropriate supports in place to remain strong, sustainable and adaptable.
As we look to the next century, we can be certain of one thing: radio will continue to evolve, but its heart will remain unchanged because at its core, radio is about people - the broadcasters, the producers, the technicians, and most importantly, the listeners who make it all possible.
Closing Remarks
Cé gur léir go bhfuil athrú suntasach ag teacht ar bhur n-earnáil, táim lánchinnte go rachaidh gach aon duine agaibh anseo inniu in oiriúint don timpeallacht sin atá ag athrú agus go mbeidh sibh ábalta do na deiseanna a thiocfaidh chun cinn dá barr.
This conference provides a valuable opportunity to reflect on the impact, continued importance and future of radio in Ireland. I wish you all an enjoyable and productive two days.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh.