RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta (RnaG; Irish for Gaeltacht Radio) is the Irish language radio service of Radio Telefís Éireann in Ireland, and is available on 92-94FM in Ireland and via the Internet. It began broadcasts on 2nd April 1972, and was the second legal radio station in Ireland. Initially RnaG broadcast for only a handful of hours a day, but following the putting in place of a fourth RTÉ national radio transmitter network (used for Lyric FM), the station expanded to 24 hours from 1st October, 2001.

RnaG is based in Casla, Co. Galway. It also has studios at: Gaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal; Ballydavid, Co. Kerry; Castlebar, Co. Mayo; and RTÉ Radio Centre in Dublin. The station is operated by RTÉ, but has a separate advisory council, Comhairle Raidió na Gaeltachta, which is appointed by the RTÉ Authority. RTÉ also appoints the Ceannaire, or Controller of RnaG, who has day-to-day responsibility for the service.

RnaG has been criticised by some for its "no English lyrics" policy, which has kept most popular music from being played on the station and hampered its appeal to young people. Others comment that the station has provided a much-needed dedicated communication medium for Irish, which is by far a minority language in Ireland. For many years it was the only Irish language broadcaster in the country; in recent years it has been joined by Telefís na Gaelige (TG4, a TV service) and regional community stations, such as the Dublin independent station Raidió na Life .

In March 2005, RTÉ announced that RnaG will allow songs with English lyrics to be played between 9pm and 1am on weeknights, as part of a new popular music strand. Full details of the new programme have yet to be revealed.

External link

• Official site