I think that, during the course of the debate yesterday, although there was a fair amount of criticism, there was at the same time, to an unexpected degree, commendation of the station as a whole. The amount of criticism indicated that a vital interest is being taken in the station—more so, perhaps, than on previous occasions—and I think that that is very encouraging both to the director and to the staff of the station. I cannot avoid, however, commenting on the way in which two of the chief daily newspapers here distorted the general tenour of the debate here in connection with this matter. While they published speeches, or parts of speeches, condemning certain items, they did not refer, except in a very few cases, to the praise that was given to the station; nor did they indicate the atmosphere of the whole debate. Perhaps, it would be better for me to deal first of all with specific criticisms that have been made before coming to more general matters. There have been questions asked about so many details which deserve to receive detailed answers that I think that, perhaps, I should deal with these first.
Deputy Cosgrave, the Leader of the Opposition, raised the question of the wave-length of Athlone, and other Deputies spoke of the quality of reception in various parts of the country. As to the wave-length, I can assure the Deputies that 531 metres, the present wave-length of the Athlone Station, is one very well adapted for the solution of our problem of serving the needs of the whole country from a single centrally situated high-power station.
The demands for wave-lengths for the numerous varieties of service given by wireless are so great, that it is only by world-wide international agreement that the various stations can be worked with anything approaching efficiency. World-Wide conferences, at each of which this country has been represented, were held about every five years for the purpose of allocating bands of wave-lengths to the various wireless services, including broadcasting, and then European regional conferences allocated the individual wave-lengths to broadcasting stations on the Continent of Europe, and those parts of Africa and Asia that were, for all practical purposes, in the European broadcasting zones. Briefly, it may be said that for wave-lengths in the bands used for local, as distinct from intercontinental, broadcasting, the longer the wave-length used, the greater is the effective coverage, and there was great competition at the European broadcasting conferences for the longer waves. Our efforts to obtain an efficient wave-length for our main station were very successful, as the following facts show.
Dublin—then our only station—was opened on the 1st January, 1926, using a wave-length of 390 metres. On the 13th January, 1928, following a conference held in Brussels, this was changed to 411 metres, and on the 30th June, 1929, following a conference in Prague, to 413 metres. This wave-length of 413 metres was transferred to the Athlone high-power station when it was opened in June, 1932, and, in accordance with what is known as the Lucerne Plan, the wave-length was increased to 531 metres on the 15th January, 1934.
As I have said, this wave-length is a very good wave-length for our purposes, but only on the condition, of course, that we are left in undisturbed possession of it. This, not withstanding the various international conferences, we have not been able to ensure, and certain troublesome interference occurred from time to time even under normal conditions. During the present hostilities, when radio services are of such vital concern to the belligerents, respect for international agreements has naturally weakened, and reception of the Athlone programme is seriously marred over the greater part of the country by unauthorised signals emanating from the station of a belligerent, and although we have made efforts to have the interference removed, we have been unable to do so. Our efforts in this direction are, however, continuing.
Apart from this widespread interference, it may well be that there are some spots in the country at which reception from Athlone is not entirely satisfactory. Any specific complaints of this kind that reach the broadcasting service are investigated on the spot, and if Deputies will give me details of particular cases in which they are interested, I shall take steps to have them carefully examined. In some cases the trouble may be in the individual receiving-arrangements, or in locally generated interference, and my technical staff will, in such cases, be able to advise how an improvement may be effected.
Deputy Cosgrave also spoke of the site of the station as being unsuitable. I think there is some confusion here. The site of our main station is Athlone, and there is no doubt that this is a very suitable site for a station that has to serve the whole of our country. Probably, what Deputy Cosgrave had in mind were our studio arrangements, which are certainly capable of improvement. The matter of a new specially designed and equipped building, as headquarters for Irish Broadcasting, was being actively pursued in 1939 when the present emergency arose. Naturally, nothing effective can be done in the way of providing new buildings and elaborate equipment at the present time, but the matter is being constantly kept in mind and the design pushed ahead as far as is practicable.
The Deputy also raised the question of harp broadcasts and suggested that we do not feature the harp to any extent. I find that in recent times we had harp broadcasts on the following dates: 18th September, 24th September, 6th October, 10th October, 25th October, 27th October and 1st November. Another broadcast is arranged for the 15th instant. There are four or five harpists who are employed on these broadcasts. It is impossible for any individual to listen in to the radio all the time and very often a person will miss the very item which he would like to have heard. I think that criticism on details of this sort would be more properly made direct to the station than made the subject of public controversy. The Deputy also raised the question of announcers and their accents. Literally hundreds of people were examined in order to get announcers who would be clearly and thoroughly understood. One Deputy said that the best language to use was the language most easily understood and that must be always the criterion by which we shall choose our announcers.
The Deputy also asked if we had employed experts in the examination for new members of the orchestra. I may say that I was very careful both for purposes of self-protection and also for the purpose of good policy, not to interfere in any way with the examiners, who were carefully chosen and were themselves expert musicians of high standing. The matter of choosing the members of the orchestra was left entirely in their hands. I may say that my friends were very considerably disappointed, because at least two of them were not chosen, so that any complaint cannot be founded on the alleged exercise of political influence in these appointments.
Deputy Esmonde raised the question of propaganda, and appeared to be under the impression that it was a question for the station. It is, however, a matter for other Departments. It is a question of high policy or international policy as to how far we should enter into propaganda on the wireless. Personally, I think everybody is extremely sick of propaganda, and wherever one finds propaganda mixed up with the news from other countries, the tendency is for one to shrug one's shoulders and turn away from that station.
