| Title: | Celt Notefile |
| Moderator: | TALLIS::DARCY |
| Created: | Wed Feb 19 1986 |
| Last Modified: | Tue Jun 03 1997 |
| Last Successful Update: | Fri Jun 06 1997 |
| Number of topics: | 1632 |
| Total number of notes: | 20523 |
There are a lot of people in the South of Ireland who don't
know what's going on in NI through no fault of their own. As I
said in my previous note: The Anglo-irish that run the Dublin
government, the ultimate quizzlings that do the dirty work of the
Brits' for them, have made damn sure that the people of Ireland
don't hear about it.
Not to mention that fact that the Brits are waging total war on the
Irish with such subtlety that a lot of the Irish don't even know it.
For example, in Maurice Burke's book, "Britain's War Machine in
Ireland" he makes a very good case for showing how the British Army
has infiltrated the mass media in Ireland with their own people!
Here is the article from "Britain's War Machine in Ireland"
(by Maurice Burke).
"Michael Cunningham, in 'Monaghan, County of Intrigue,' states that
the British succeeded in infiltrating Radio Telefis Eireann, the
government-owned Irish television and radio network.
"As early as 25th February, 1970, the pro-British elements
within the [RTE] authority had pulled off a massive propaganda
coup with the appointment of a former British Army officer to
host the new talk show for housewoves, 'Here and Now'. The man
appointed was none other than ex-Captain Liam Nolan who had,
I understood, done his initial broadcasting as a member of the
British Army. From its inception, the programme was used as a
base to attack that section of the Northern Catholic population
which resisisted Captain Nolan's former army. One of Nolan's
favourite allies in this campaign was the New Ulster Movement.
This group of pro-British, wealthy and articulate collaborators
were given ample opportunity to air their views."
"The success of the British propaganda on the "Here and Now" show
prompted the British and their allies in RTE - many of whom were
members of the British trade union known as the 'National' Union
of Journalists - to get a man for RTE in Belfast who would do a
similar job on Northern news and politics. The man chosen was
Liam Hourican, a native of Roscommon, in the South of Ireland."
'Magill,' Ireland's current affairs magazine, did a feature article on
Liam Nolan in the May, 1981 issue which noted some items of interest in
the light of Michael Cunningham's accusation.
At one time he (Nolan) worked in the accounts department of the British
Broadcasting Corporation and then "did two years national service and did
some broadcasting while in Hong Kong."
One caller who phoned about Nolan's RTE show was "disgusted with Nolan's
West Brit attitude, always reading bits from English papers, a dead
giveaway."
Hourican was mentioned in the course of an article in the August 1981
issue of 'Magill', dealing with the hungar strike:
'The next initiative attempted was was to advise the Irish ambassador to
the United Staes, Sean Dolan, to brief President Ronald Reagan on the situation
and hand him a letter from the Taoiseach asking (Reagan) to intervene with the
British for the purpose of pressuring them to deal directly with the prisoners.
A basic error was made in relation to this initiative by the Irish Government's
press secretary, Liam Hourican, in releasing details of this initiative to the
political correspondents of the Irish papers. The publicity attached to the
venture detracted from its effectiveness."
Irish governments have also helped in making Irish radio and television
serve British propaganda interests. Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act, passed
when Lynch of Fianna Fail was Prime Minister, was designed to exclude
spokespersons for Irish Republicans from RTE facilities. Since 1973, when a
Coalition governmment assumed office, spokespersons for Sinn Fein, a legal
political party, have been denied access to Irish radio and Television."
[End of Article]
| T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
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| 1094.1 | Not the only ones, it seems! | MACNAS::MGRAHAM | Bis dat qui cito dat | Thu Jul 09 1992 04:09 | 76 |
From the Irish Times, Tuesday July 7th 1992.
(my original reply had the wrong date - MG)
(Reprinted w/o permission)
RTE envisaged as anti-Communist ally
From Michael Finlan in Galway
The Vatican sought to influence the development of television in Ireland,
regarding it as a weapon that might counteract Communist propaganda, the
joint American and Canadian conference on Irish studies was told in
University College, Galway, yesterday.
In 1958, when the Government's Television Commission was examining
proposals for setting up a television service, the Vatican lent its support
to a Paris-based private company, one lecturer said.
Rob Savage, a historian at Boston College, told of two Vatican officials
visiting the then Minister of Health, Sean MacEntee, to express the strong
interest of the Pope in Irish television and radio. The two were Monsignor
George Roche, prelate of the Papal household, and Monsignor Andrea Deskur,
assistant secretary of the Pontifical Commission on Television.
In his report on the meeting to the Taoiseach of the day, Eamon de Valera,
Mr MacEntee said the prelates had told him: "...the Holy Father has been
particularly struck by the potentialities of an Irish television service.
He (the Pope) emphasized the fact that the influence of radio and
television as media of mass communication had been bad in traditionally
Catholic countries in South America and Europe because of programmes which,
in their treatment of moral and religious issues, had been highly
objectionable.
"His Holiness felt that, by reason of its geographical situation, the Irish
television installation could be of great service to the Christian
religion."
According to Dr Savage, the visitors from Rome were offered an appointment
with the Taoiseach but declined to see him, fearing they would be imposing
at short notice. However, they asked if the Pontifical Commission could
have the opportunity of examining the report of the Television commission
"before the Government made a decision in regard to it". It was agreed
that this would be done.
Dr Savage said official diplomatic channels were avoided as the two
prelates feared that going through the Foreign Affairs Department in Iveagh
House would jeopardize the secrecy of their mission. It was feared that
the involvement of the Papacy might be leaked to the press and that this
would embarrass both the Government and the Vatican.
Later in 1958, according to Dr Savage, the Vatican was the "most
surprising" supporter of an application to set up an Irish television
service, at no cost to the State, from a company headed by Charles
Mitchelson, a Romanian living in Paris.
In return for establishing both a commercial and public service network,
over which the Government would have editorial control, the Mitchelson
company sought the right to set up its own commercial radio station which
was intended to attract a British audience.
Monsignor Roche gave a copy of the Mitchelson proposal to the Irish
ambassador at the Vatican and told him: "The Church is deeply and actively
interested in this scheme as an anti-Communist weapon. If the scheme was
adopted, Ireland would become a centre from which would radiate programmes
conforming to the ideals of Christendom and western civilization,
competing with Communist propaganda."
Eventually, Dr Savage said, despite heavy pressure exerted on the
Government by a considerable number of diverse parties, an independent
public authority was established to run Irish television. He gave much
credit for this to the Secretary of the Department of Posts and
telegraphs, the late Dr Leon O Broin, who argued against private TV
entrepreneurs and espoused the cause of public service broadcasting on the
lines of the BBC.
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| 1094.2 | Yawn | FIELD::LOUGHLINI | If it is to be, it's up to me | Thu Jul 16 1992 06:02 | 9 |
Hmm, only 1 reply to the base note since 8th July !
Excellent contribution from Joe (as usual) but in the wrong notesfile
I think. Should have been entered in "Joke of the day....."
Or is the base note just toro_kaka ?
Ian
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| 1094.3 | EPIK::HOLOHAN | Thu Jul 16 1992 10:46 | 10 | ||
re. .2 "wrong notesfile"
What, I thought RTE is Irish Television.
I thought Section 31 was an Irish Law.
Ian, perhaps you should have put your reply in the
jokes notesfile.
Mark
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