{"id":59312,"date":"2025-09-12T10:30:13","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/59312\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T10:30:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T10:30:13","slug":"when-tg4-was-established-people-said-this-is-a-waste-of-money-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/59312\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018When TG4 was established, people said this is a waste of money\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWhen TG4<\/a> was established, people said, \u2018This is a waste of money and we should be spending it on hospitals and roads and all the rest\u2019,\u201d says Deirdre N\u00ed Choist\u00edn. Nowadays, you\u2019re more likely to open up your X feed and see someone arguing for TG4 to \u201cget all the licence fee\u201d.<\/p>\n

Maybe it\u2019s the sultry late August weather here in Baile na hAbhann, Co Galway, where the \u00e1rd sti\u00farth\u00f3ir (director general) of TG4 has agreed to meet at the broadcaster\u2019s headquarters. Maybe it\u2019s just her disposition.<\/p>\n

Either way, almost four months to the day since she stepped into the role, becoming the first woman to lead the broadcaster since its inception as Teilif\u00eds na Gaeilge (TnaG) in 1996, the Kildare native is feeling confident, not just about the future of TG4 but the Irish language itself and even \u2013 in contrast to much of the discussion about the sector these days \u2013 Irish broadcasting.<\/p>\n

Sheltered in TG4\u2019s airy boardroom from the blazing Connemara sunshine outside, N\u00ed Choist\u00edn discusses her vision for the station over the six and a half years or so remaining of her term of office.<\/p>\n

There are a couple of priority items at the very top of her agenda \u2013 not least the perennial question of funding, but also the issue of regaining editorial control of TG4\u2019s news output from RT\u00c9<\/a>, a topic close to her heart. <\/p>\n

First up, however, there is the small matter of the broadcaster\u2019s all-important autumn schedule release. Trojan work has gone into the seasonal programming line-up, she says, which incorporates new series from returning favourites such as Hector \u00d3 hEochag\u00e1in and Louise Cantillon, as well as new Irish language films such as rural murder mystery B\u00e1ite and a host of new documentaries and other goodies.<\/p>\n

Autumn is also budget season, when N\u00ed Choist\u00edn and her colleagues find out their allotment for the year. Last year, TG4 was told it would receive \u20ac60 million to fund its activities in 2025, an increase of \u20ac3 million from 2024, but still well below the \u20ac78.6 million the broadcaster had targeted for the year in its post-Covid strategy document. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0TG4 secure exclusive free-to-air rights for URC as RT\u00c9 loses outOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Context is important, however. Under the previous minister for the Gaeltacht, arts and media, Catherine Martin<\/a>, TG4\u2019s annual budget had grown by 60 per cent in just five years from 2020. That was a \u201chuge investment\u201d, N\u00ed Choist\u00edn says, that helped the broadcaster send Colm Bair\u00e9ad\u2019s 2022 film An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain \u2013 a product of TG4\u2019s Cine4 partnership with Screen Ireland<\/a> and the then-Broadcasting Authority of Ireland \u2013 to the Oscars, among other successes. <\/p>\n

\"AA still from An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain. <\/p>\n

TG4 is now looking for \u20ac10 million in Budget 2026 and another \u20ac10 million in Budget 2027 \u201cjust to fulfil our strategy\u201d, she says. That strategy is centred on \u201cgrowing young audiences\u201d through initiatives including the C\u00fala4 children\u2019s channel, which launched in 2023 and needs funding \u201cto invest in, for example, drama content for kids\u201d. Again, context is important. The targets outlined in its strategy document would, at the time, have only brought State funding for TG4 up to the level of Welsh-language public broadcaster S4C.<\/p>\n

On Budget 2026, N\u00ed Choist\u00edn has no sense yet whether TG4\u2019s appeal will be successful, although she says her relationship with the current Minister, Patrick O\u2019Donovan<\/a>, is \u201cgreat\u201d and that the Fine Gael TD, who visited the station not long ago, \u201cunderstands the value of TG4\u201d as an Irish speaker himself.<\/p>\n

\"\"Why are some independent Irish breweries turning off their taps and closing?<\/p>\n

Yet, she says, \u201cthe way these things work, you don\u2019t know until the week before, or sometimes the day of the budget\u201d. That\u2019s why public service broadcasters such as TG4 and the constellation of production companies that make its programming have been crying out for multiyear funding for years. It\u2019s also something that RT\u00c9 received as part of its \u20ac725 million agreement with the Government last year, covering 2025, 2026 and 2027. <\/p>\n

The Coalition\u2019s Broadcasting Amendment Bill is a transposition into law of the European Media Freedom Act, which stipulates that funding for public service media should be \u201cadequate, sustainable and predictable\u201d. Currently winding its way through the Oireachtas, the Bill is a \u201cvery positive and groundbreaking piece of legislation\u201d, she says, that will provide that badly needed funding certainty for the sector as a whole. <\/p>\n

TG4 also needs money to fulfil another part of its strategy: to bring news and current affairs programming back under its editorial control. Through a quirk of its statutory obligations, RT\u00c9 currently supplies the Nuacht TG4 news service to TG4. Despite being largely produced in TG4\u2019s Connemara studios, the broadcaster has no editorial control over the service, which prompted the Future of Media Commission<\/a> to recommend in 2021 that the Irish language broadcaster be permitted to operate a fully independent news service. The Government agreed with the recommendation, but the transition has yet to happen.<\/p>\n

\"TG4TG4 is based in Connemara. <\/p>\n

Having served as TG4\u2019s first-ever head of news and current affairs, N\u00ed Choist\u00edn is particularly exercised about this matter. \u201cThat was one of my key motivators when applying for the job,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was head of news for three years, and part of the job was to deliver on this. It\u2019s key to our audiences. Irish language audiences are as interested in news as English language audiences, so we need to give them a bigger, better service.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it stands, there is \u201clittle scope to expand the service\u201d, despite the public appetite for it. TG4\u2019s own research in 2021 suggested that 79 per cent of Irish language speakers primarily get their news online. N\u00ed Choist\u00edn is hopeful the matter will be resolved long before her term is over, but steps will have to be taken soon. \u201cThe key thing to move things forward,\u201d she says, \u201cis that I think Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n and the department need to put a timeline on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u00c1ine N\u00ed Bhreisle\u00e1in brings us on a wellness journey featuring Joe Wicks, yurt saunas and flinging beer bottles with vengeful abandonOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

N\u00ed Choist\u00edn\u2019s love of the Irish language began in school. She was born and raised in Kildare, attending one of the first Gaelscoileanna in the country, Scoil Chearbhaill U\u00ed Dh\u00e1laigh in Leixlip. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad was from the Rinn Gaeltacht in Waterford,\u201d she says. \u201cHe left because there were no opportunities if he didn\u2019t want to be farming. He went to college in Dublin, and then there was no way to go back or no reason to go back.\u201d N\u00ed Choist\u00edn delights in the fact that Nemeton TV, the company that produces TG4\u2019s sports output, is based in An Rinn and that there\u2019s \u201ca whole generation\u201d of people who\u2019ve stayed there because of the employment it has created. <\/p>\n

Her mother is from Carlow and, by contrast, \u201cdoesn\u2019t have a word of Irish\u201d, she says. A young Ni Choist\u00edn became interested in attending the school after hearing an advert on the radio. It was a \u201cbig risk\u201d to send their daughter to an early Gaelscoil in the early 1980s.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a prefab on the side of a GAA pitch,\u201d she recalls. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have enough classrooms for all the kids, so we\u2019d have half days when rang a haon and rang a d\u00f3 would be in the morning, and junior and senior in the afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0TG4 to broadcast all Division One and Two football league games liveOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Humble though the facilities were at that time, she has \u201creally happy memories\u201d of the school, from which her love of the language blossomed. \u201cWe had great teachers from all the Gaeltachta\u00ed,\u201d N\u00ed Choist\u00edn says. \u201cSo, one year, I had a teacher from Connemara, another year a teacher from Gaoth Dobhair, another year, from Kerry. It was just a great place. I\u2019m still surprised at where people from Scoil Chearbhaill U\u00ed Dh\u00e1laigh would pop up in my life to this day, even though I\u2019m 25 years in Galway.\u201d<\/p>\n

Broadcasting has changed dramatically in that quarter of a century. With the rise of streaming, the death of linear television \u2013 the traditional medium which follows a set schedule \u2013 has been long-predicted. N\u00ed Choist\u00edn thinks it\u2019s more nuanced than that. <\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone says it\u2019s dead,\u201d she opines. \u201cIt\u2019s not. But the audience patterns have completely changed. People don\u2019t sit down to watch drama series every week any more. They want the box set \u2013 that Netflix<\/a> viewing pattern. So, what we have to do, the same as every other public service media organisation, is respond to audience behaviours and needs, and the technology also has to correspond and move towards that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rather than killing traditional television, the popularity of watching it over the internet is \u201cgoing to create new opportunities for broadcasters\u201d, N\u00ed Choist\u00edn believes. The future of Irish public service broadcasting probably looks something like the Freely service in the UK, a joint venture between the country\u2019s public service broadcasters that bundles their live television and on-demand services in one smart television application. <\/p>\n

\u201cIreland will have to go into that space,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s some talk, but it\u2019s not really a conversation that\u2019s happening at the broadcaster level yet. And we need to be looking at where our audience is going to be, and how are we going to, not compete \u2013 because we\u2019re never going to compete with the global streamers \u2013 but, how are we putting our content in a place that\u2019s accessible?\u201d<\/p>\n

N\u00ed Choist\u00edn has worn many hats throughout those 25 years at the broadcaster, that began shortly after she finished a degree in Irish and French in Trinity College Dublin<\/a>. Most recently, she was head of news, but she\u2019s done \u201cnearly every role\u201d at TG4, she says, and developed a \u201cdeep, very innate understanding of what we are, who we are and how we work\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Deirdre N\u00ed Choist\u00edn appointed director general of TG4Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

After all, TG4 prides itself on its knowledge of its audience and the space it occupies within the broadcasting landscape. There is a quiet self-assuredness that comes with that awareness, a characteristic that has helped it to punch above its weight in the Irish market and, increasingly, on the international stage. <\/p>\n

Its motto, S\u00fail Eile [meaning \u201canother perspective\u201d], has been in place since TnaG\u2019s 1996 launch, which N\u00ed Choist\u00edn remembers fondly. Then a third-year student in Trinity, she helped organise a college launch party for the station through the university\u2019s Cumann Gaelach. Trinity\u2019s Central Societies Committee \u201cgave us a bit of cash\u201d, she recalls, and a hooley ensued in the Fleet bar across the road from the college. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo, then we all thought we were going to get jobs,\u201d says N\u00ed Choist\u00edn. \u201cThis is great. We\u2019re all going to work for TnaG. Of course, that didn\u2019t really happen.\u201d It wasn\u2019t long before she would find her way to Baile na hAbhann, however.<\/p>\n

Alan Esslemont, N\u00ed Choist\u00edn\u2019s predecessor, told The Irish Times in 2021 that the first iteration of the broadcaster hadn\u2019t always lived up to the S\u00fail Eile motto. \u201cI always felt we just tried to be RT\u00c9 One, but in the Irish language,\u201d he said at the time, \u201cand I thought we needed a different brand positioning.\u201d <\/p>\n

That process began in 1999 with the broadcaster\u2019s relaunch as TG4, and S\u00fail Eile has \u201cbeen at the heart\u201d of everything it has done since, N\u00ed Choist\u00edn says. She credits the strength of the brand to the depth of its self-awareness and \u201cconfidence\u201d in itself. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not mainstream,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think as well, being a publisher broadcaster, we\u2019re innovative in how we work with producers. We\u2019re looking for content that will resonate, that either gives a platform to underrepresented audiences or genres, but also that\u2019s creative; that\u2019s not something you\u2019re going to see in English-language media. We have to kind of punch through that dominant English language media landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

That occasionally means sticking your neck out. <\/p>\n

\"TG4TG4 had a production credit on Kneecap’s 2024 film. Photograph: Liam McBurney\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was a brave choice to make a movie about Kneecap<\/a> with all the controversy,\u201d N\u00ed Choist\u00edn says, with a wry chuckle. TG4 had a production credit on the Belfast rap group\u2019s 2024 smash hit film. N\u00ed Choist\u00edn says the broadcaster\u2019s involvement in the production was \u201cquite small\u201d. But it was engaged in the scripting process, and its commissioning department gave feedback to the filmmakers about whether the picture would be \u201cacceptable to an Irish language audience\u201d. <\/p>\n

N\u00ed Choist\u00edn has zero regrets. \u201cIt really resonated,\u201d she says, \u201cas we know, with young audiences [\u2026] that this is something different.\u201d <\/p>\n

Between barnstorming festival performances, sell-out tours and the occasional trial on terror charges in the UK, a lot has happened since the film\u2019s release. Kneecap\u2019s flirtation with notoriety has fashioned the three boys from Belfast simultaneously into a target for right-wing Britain, an embarrassment for a swathe of official Ireland and a cause celebre for many young Irish people, particularly aspiring and actual Gaeilgeoir\u00ed. <\/p>\n

Is the whiff of sulphur around Kneecap enough to deter any future collaborations with the group? Not really, says N\u00ed Choist\u00edn.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the short answer is yes [we would work with them again],\u201d she says. \u201cI think we have to be a bit bold as well. There are so many layers to this, but they resonate with younger audiences. And I don\u2019t believe that if you commit to something once, you suddenly say: \u2018No, we\u2019re not going to work [with them] again because of what happened.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, mistakes were made,\u201d N\u00ed Choist\u00edn concedes. \u201cBut yeah, we would work with them again. They do represent a cohort of young Irish speakers and they still appeal to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Kneecap lads have found fertile ground for their art in the current cultural climate. It\u2019s clear that the Irish language is undergoing a remarkable revival at home and among the diaspora \u2013 a process in which TG4 has played an important role, says N\u00ed Choist\u00edn. <\/p>\n

When, as minister for arts, culture and the Gaeltacht, Michael D Higgins<\/a> initially funded the creation of TnaG, he \u201crecognised that if we don\u2019t do this, the Irish language will probably die\u201d, she says. By the results alone, the broadcaster seems to have fulfilled its end of the bargain. It\u2019s been a \u201ccontributing factor\u201d, she says, to the fruitful conditions in which the language appears to be starting to flourish again. <\/p>\n

There are other factors, however. \u201cI\u2019m in my late 40s,\u201d says N\u00ed Choist\u00edn. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole thing of the way [the Irish language] was taught in school, every time anyone talks about it, Peig comes up. But there\u2019s not that attitude or that kind of block with younger people towards the language. And they see things like Kneecap, which has really resonated. It\u2019s kind of cooler, in a way, than it had been before.\u201d<\/p>\n

CV<\/p>\n

Name:<\/b> Deirdre N\u00ed Choist\u00edn <\/p>\n

Age: <\/b>48<\/p>\n

Job: <\/b>ard-sti\u00farth\u00f3ir TG4, director general TG4<\/p>\n

Lives: <\/b>An Spid\u00e9al, Connemara<\/p>\n

Family:<\/b> Married to Breand\u00e1n, they have four sons, Finian, Fiachra, Darach and \u00c9anna, and Dougie the dog. <\/p>\n

Something you might expect: <\/b>She attended a Gaelscoil primary school and studied Irish and French at university, and is generally an early adopter of new technologies. <\/p>\n

Something that might surprise: <\/b>She didn\u2019t have a television at home growing up. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhen TG4 was established, people said, \u2018This is a waste of money and we should be spending it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":59313,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[42684,18,117,2215,42685,42683,22484,19,17,1874,36103,35657,8336,63],"class_list":{"0":"post-59312","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-catherine-martin","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-for-you","12":"tag-future-of-media-commission","13":"tag-gaeilge","14":"tag-gaeltacht","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-michael-d-higgins","18":"tag-patrick-o-donovan","19":"tag-screen-ireland-fis-eireann","20":"tag-tg4","21":"tag-trinity-college-dublin-tcd"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59312"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59312\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}