Attitudes To Irish Language Radio Programming

A quarter of radio listeners in Ireland (25%) listen to Irish language radio on at least an occasional basis, according to new research from MORI Ireland. The project was published by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and co-sponsored by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Foras na Gaeilge, the Irish language advocacy organisation.

A quarter of radio listeners in Ireland (25%) listen to Irish language radio on at least an occasional basis, according to new research from MORI Ireland. The project was published by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and co-sponsored by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and Foras na Gaeilge, the Irish language advocacy organisation.

The survey also reveals that 3.4% listen to Irish language radio on a daily basis. one if five (22%) radio listeners who say they never listen to Irish language radio programming regard their spoken Irish as "good" or "very good". This suggests no strict relationship between proficiency in the language and take-up of current Irish language radio programming.

MORI Ireland also carried out a segmentation analysis of respondents, relating respondent attitudes to Irish language radio to lifestyle, demographic and media consumption characteristics. This revealed five key population segments:

  • Conforming Conservatives (25% of the population). Although keen on the concept of listening to Irish language programs -- particularly to find out what is happening in the community -- they are less eager to actually avail of these services, with only 26% of this group ever listening to Irish language radio.
  • Open-minded Bilingualists (27%). These are the least likely to listen to RnaG, and prefer other national radio to local radio. They are a relatively young, well-educated group (58% of them have tertiary or postgraduate-level qualifications), with better than average Irish Language skills. This group is open to more Irish language programming, even if they do not see a need -- if the content is right for them, they will listen.
  • Generation Hector (22%). Although people in this group are relatively unlikely to listen to Irish language radio themselves, they do, interestingly, see a need for more of such programmes to be available. People in this group are likely to be young, mostly female, and educated to secondary school level.
  • Core Irish Audience (14%). This small group sees a definite need for Irish language broadcasting and are less interested in bilingual stations. They are by far the most likely to listen to Irish language broadcasting to keep in touch with the community and improve their Irish further.
  • Disengaged Rejecters (12%). Like the Conforming Conservatives, this group is very unlikely to take an interest in Irish language broadcasting, but in contrast to them they do not feel that Irish language radio should be promoted or supported.

In the accompanying report, entitled "Turning On and Tuning in to Irish language radio in the 21st Century", MORI Ireland also made a number of strategic recommendations regarding future policies for Irish language radio programming based on the results. These included the need for Irish language radio programming to reflect the heterogeneity of Irish language radio listeners, who are not necessarily proficient Irish speakers nor are they necessarily involved in Irish language activities.

In launching the survey and report, the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, Йamon У Cuнv, said: "I am satisfied that this important piece of work, which has been produced by the BCI and MORI, will be extremely useful to me and also to those who will be making decisions on the provision of Irish services for young people".

Technical details

MORI Ireland interviewed 1,203 people by telephone, between 29th October and 20th November 2004. Quotas were set by age, gender, region and on the number of Gaeltacht respondents. Data are weighted to match the profile of the population.

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