The Irish Government Funds A 2020 Dublin Pirate Radio Station - It's Time for LPFM Now

 

Some time ago, I wrote extensively on the use of illegal FM transmitters by the Catholic Church across Ireland. The call then was for a better process of licensing by the BAI, both to regulate the FM band and to legalise these pirate radio broadcasts. The implementation of a Low Power FM (LPFM) licensing policy would eradicate these illegal broadcasts and provide listeners with confidence. When the hobby pirate radio stations began to appear in the 1970’s and early 1980’s, the then Department of Posts and Telegraphs were proactive in detecting, raiding and closing these stations. They were prosecuted under the 1926 Wireless Telegraphy Act but when that law became porous, it led to the proliferation of hundreds of pirate radio stations across Ireland. The 1988 Wireless Telegraphy Act closed the majority of pirate radio station across Ireland and significantly increased the penalties for illegal broadcasting up to €20,000 fines and/or two years in prison. These illegal services were replaced by legal, licensed, national, local, regional, institutional and community radio stations. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland also annually issues temporary licenses to local communities, events and sporting organisations.

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1988/act/19/enacted/en/print.html

 Pirate operations since 1988 have been subject to raids and harassment, some for causing interference. The enforcement of the radio spectrum was devolved to ComReg but as the issue of the pirate Church broadcasts illustrated, ComReg have failed to act with an even hand, and have failed to correctly identify that there is an issue with illegal broadcasters especially on the FM band.

 https://ibhof.blogspot.com/2020/07/revealed-worlds-largest-pirate-radio.html

Further infringements of the 1988 Wireless telegraphy Act have come to light that have been ignored by ComReg and the BAI. As it was in the 1970’s, when the problem was ignored, it got out of control and enhanced legislation was required. That is why we call on the Government to immediately bring legislation to license LPFM stations. 

The Covid pandemic has forced the entertainment industry to discover new ways to interact with their audiences. We commend this, and appreciate that these services provide employment, enjoyment and impact positively the mental welfare of a nation under the effects of restrictions. This however should not encourage entertainment groups to flout the law or disregard a licensing process, which can be cumbersome and expensive. A temporary license from the BAI will cost the operator approximately €750 - €1,000 per license.

Alan Hughes, the Ireland AM and Virgin Media presenter, produced and starred in the 2020 pantomime ‘Peter Pan’. Alan and his partner Karl Broderick have been stalwarts of the annual Christmas festivities for many years, providing top quality entertainment. Due to Covid restrictions, the in person theatre experience stopped but the Peter Pan panto found another way of bringing their extremely popular show to the public. With funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, the show became a big screen drive-in show at Malahide Castle.

Taken from in-car at the Malahide Castle Pantomime

The action was relayed on a big screen for the drive-in audience while the in-car experience was relayed via 93.7mhz FM. Despite the fact that the Government Department, led by Catherine Martin TD, in charge of broadcasting funded the show, the transmitter used to broadcast on 93.7 was illegal. No license had been sought from the BAI to broadcast on FM. The response of the BAI was,

‘Panto.ie did not apply for such a licence.’

A pirate radio broadcast was funded by the Government and the taxpayer without oversight. This is the Irish State condoning and financing pirate radio. The BAI, temporary license list for the period documented a number of drive-in movie companies having sought and were awarded licenses. An email to the BAI elicited this response,

Hi Eddie

 Drive in movies require a contract with the BAI if they are using FM to provide audio to cars. The change in COVID regulations brought a premature end to the panto, so any illegal use of 93.7MHz was limited to a few days at most. We have granted temporary licences to a few drive in movie operators, but Panto.ie did not apply for such a licence.

 

Such illegal use of FM is an issue for ComReg, but the BAI does forward any information about such illegal broadcasts to ComReg.

 Regards

The clarification from the BAI left no doubt that the transmitter used at the pantomime was illegal as no license had been sought as required under law. Government sponsored illegal broadcasting is a dangerous precedent to be setting. This once again demonstrates the need for new legislation to provide for Low Power FM licenses that would assist the entertainment industry and local communities.

I reached out for a comment from the Producers of the show but to date no reply has been forthcoming. 

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 The application for the LPFM license from the FCC authorities in the United States