The Sunday Times has an article on the expected plans by DCMNR Minister Noel Dempsey to put a framework in place to finally allow a TG4/RTÉ split.
The Government has planned a split for some time now and TG4 has been patiently waiting for it to see the light of day. The now largely defunct 1999 Broadcasting Act laid the foundations for an independent TG4 however the collapse of RTÉ’s digital ambitions meant that legislation fell by the wayside too.
When I spoke to Padhraic O Ciardha of TG4 in early April he told me that many of the future plans for the Irish broadcaster relied on this split taking place and they were currently unable to properly look into new ventures as long as RTÉ called the shots.
It is unclear how long it will take for a full seperation to come about although I hope it will be to the advantage of both organisations; TG4 will hopefully continue to grow when it is on its own terms and both they and RTÉ can then continue to contribute to the survival of the Irish language.
It will be interesting to see how the two stations treat each other once fully independent from one another though; it would be a shame if co-operation ceased completely between the two just because they were no longer partners on paper.