Montrose seizes control of TG4 news in row over logo

A ROW between RTÉ and TG4 over whose logo should appear on screen has forced Montrose executives to take back control of the main evening Irish language bulletin on the Connemara-based station.

The row, revealed in the online news magazine Tuairisc.ie, is a major part of the year-long impasse over negotiations to merge the Irish language news services.

In a move, which will also affect the ‘New for the Deaf’ broadcast with sign language, RTÉ bosses have decided to pre-record the main ‘Nuacht’ evening bulletin at their Dublin studios, 40 minutes before it is broadcast at 5.40pm.

A staff memo also explained that this move was to “prevent any stress or detraction” from the newly revamped flagship ‘Six One News’ anchored by Catríona Perry and Keelin Shanley.

The latest twist involved RTÉ objecting to the TG4 logo appearing on the television screens at time of broadcast.

For now at least, the dispute will not affect the TG4 national news going out from its Galway HQ at 7pm each evening.

Journalist Seán Tadhg Ó Gairbhí, author of a book on TG4’s first 20 years of broadcasting which began in 1996, said RTÉ had provided the station’s news service since the outset.

“On the whole, the relationship with regard to news has been a fairly smooth one, and this is probably the first major public disagreement,” Mr Ó Gairbhí said. He added that the tone is now more strident.

“The idea that the Irish news bulletin could be pre-recorded will be seen by many in the Irish language community as reflecting a very insulting and dismissive attitude towards Irish, and its status in public service broadcasting,” Mr Ó Gairbhí said.