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RTÉ HAS MARKED the half-century of its news for the deaf bulletin, which was the first in Europe when it launched in 1975.
Featuring a news announcer summarising the day’s news accompanied by an on-screen script, the bulletin has evolved today to RTÉ News with Irish Sign Language (ISL), which is broadcast seven days a week and watched by close to 100,000 viewers each day.
The news bulletin, developed in consultation with the National Association for Deaf People (now Chime), was the first of its kind, delivering a dedicated daily news service for the Deaf and hard of hearing.
Ahead of the launch on 6 January 1975, deaf children and adults came to RTÉ to experiment with newsroom staff in the types of presentation style that suited them. This work covered everything from reading the script on screen to lip reading what the presenter was saying.
It has been credited as a “milestone” by the Irish Deaf Society, which said it paralleled a societal shift in attitudes toward Irish Sign Language.
“Before 1992, RTÉ began its journey with news presented through lip-reading, but the launch of daily ISL news in 1992 was groundbreaking,” said chair of the Irish Deaf Society Lianne Quigley.
Quigley, who is also a member of the RTÉ ISL news team, noted the “challenging and long path” to ISL recognition in 2017 as further major progress for inclusion and equality.
The current daily ISL news “remains vital in providing the Deaf community in Ireland with full access to national news in their own language”, Quigley added.
Speaking on the anniversary, managing director of RTÉ News and Current Affairs Deirdre McCarthy said the “50-year journey is a testament to inclusivity and innovation”, further paying credit to Chime and The Irish Deaf Society for their collaboration with the station.
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As an extended member of the Deaf Community in Ireland, I’m not Deaf, but people very close to me are, I cannot express enough just how important ‘News for the Deaf’ has been and continues to be. When it first emerged subtitling on live TV, such as the News, was a practical impossibility. ‘News for the Deaf’ was a short, but vital lifeline for the Community for information and access. It continues to be a vital aspect of Irish life for those who struggle to access the information real time on the News or for whom written English (the language on the subtitles) is a problem. Congratulations to all involved, RTÉ included, on 50 years of such an important service to a small, but thriving and vital Irish Community.
A milestone for inclusitivity says the director of news and current affairs.Give me a break.50 year’s of exclusivity more like Accountability is what we need.Isint that right Dee Forbes.
@James Leahy: Lol. Your ranting makes you look deranged. I’m sure it’s 50 years of inclusivity and maybe play another record, she was there for maybe 8 of the last 50 years and she’s long gone now. Time you built a bridge and got over it perhaps.
Must be a large amount of deaf people in Ireland. RTE were ahead of there time.
@Biker Man: hard to hear at age 10 after wooden spoon to head lol
@Biker Man: Clearly still a lot of Irish people who can’t construct a simple sentence correctly. It’s “their” not “there”.
@Joseph Fitzgibbon: what?
@Joseph Fitzgibbon: It happens. Autocorrect can be a curse sometimes.
@Joseph Fitzgibbon: no grammer police allowed on the journal so do one,,,
@james rowan: Who says? On your bike son.
Colm Connolly,a blast from the past.
@Jb Walshe: RIP to Colm Connelly. I’ve just seen he died recently.
@Jb Walshe: yeah, he was smearing sun screen on a babe back in 76
@Meatball Martin: Where ye watching with hidden binoculars? Surely yes.
@Paul Gorry: where?
@Oh Mammy: Oh, look tit alert ⚠️
@Oh Mammy: No,he was hidden. He asked him where
@Paul Gorry: is your mother able to work the ATM
Back in the day, there was a Radio Eireann programme called Din’joe. It was a half hour of Irish dancing, on radio. I kid you not!
@Brian Hunt: and music, of course, Brian. And very popular it was, too
@Kevin Kerr: is your mother alive?
@Meatball Martin: WARNING RED ALERT….. The trolls keep on coming…
@Meatball Martin: crossing line
@Paul Gorry: is your mother alive?
@Paul Gorry: why don’t you just stick to your Brenny troll accounts?
@Paul Gorry: it’s the same troll with multi accounts
Got my Israel soccer Jersey delivered today, and it is gorgeous
@Meatball Martin: They are fantastic love mine.
@Meatball Martin: if I ever see anyone wearing an Israeli jersey, I’ll treat them like the IDF treats Palestinians.
Of course ye are all talk.
No one would be daft enough to actually wear one.
I gather we have a different sign language to our nrenear neighbours. Why not amalgamate them.
Hears to 50 more
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