Speech by Minister Catherine Martin on the Launch of TG4's book to celebrate their 25th Birthday

Thank you to Alan, Siún, Mícheál and all the TG4 team for the invitation to be here with you this afternoon to celebrate a quarter of a century of TG4. It gives me great pleasure to be here today. I am delighted to finally meet the team in person, and to celebrate 25 years of dedicated Irish Language broadcasting.

There are many other stakeholders who are present here today that are part of TG4’s success story. I am delighted to share the celebrations with you; the independent production companies, the sponsors and partners and everyone who has given support to the TG4 story so far.

I would like to commend Mícheál and all of those who have contributed to the production of this beautiful book. I’m sure Mícheál that your 20 years’ of commissioning with TG4 meant you were perfectly placed to capture the most memorable pieces of TG4’s programming history. The BAI/TG4 supported digital archiving project is a vital piece of recording of Irish cultural life for the future. However, the production of a book of TG4’s achievements on such an occasion gives us all a physical reference for both the serious and the more humorous moments from the screen, and the highs and the more poignant moments.

I’m aware that the book features an introduction from President Michael D Higgins. His tenure in the role of Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht was instrumental in ensuring the launch of Teilifís na Gaeilge. From then it has grown in strength and reputation in both Irish life and in the Irish media landscape.

The last 18 months has been a challenging time for all of us. As we now try and adjust to the easing of restrictions it is worth noting the very important role played by TG4. You provided an important source of news, education, and public service information during this time. I was delighted to have secured €1.9m supplementary funding for 2020 related to the additional Covid 19 programming costs, not least Cúla4 ar Scoil.

TG4 enables powerful connections right across the areas under my remit as Minister for Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. I appreciate the huge value that TG4 offers in supporting our language and cultural heritage. It benefits both the Gaeltacht and Irish speaking communities and the wider Irish audience. I was delighted to have been able to secure additional annual funding of €4.2m in budget 2022, which is the largest ever single annual increase in TG4’s funding.

TG4 have an ambitious post-Covid Strategy. I am aware of the challenges facing the station in an increasingly competitive media environment and predominantly English language content providers. I am pleased that the additional funding I secured will enable TG4 to deliver on their strategy to put younger audiences centre stage. I recognise that TG4 have invested heavily in this strategy to date with the development of Bloc and Mólscéal. Both of these platforms and have seen huge increases in engagement of 164% and 16.8% in 2020. This shows the efforts being made by TG4 in adapting to meet the needs of their audience in an ever changing broadcasting environment.

I also recognise that a key element of the strategy continues to be the support for a wide range of innovative content from the regional independent production sector. The additional funding I secured will boost content production while providing a valuable source of employment in the creative sectors in the Gaeltacht and the West of Ireland.

It is a fundamental requirement in language preservation that Irish speakers see and hear the voices of their own community in their own language. TG4’s value is recognised as having a clear role in Irish broadcasting and providing high quality content and services to both Irish speakers and the wider audience. Its success to date is testament to the hard work and dedication of all the stakeholders here today. All that remains for me is to wish all at TG4 a happy 25th birthday and wish the station every success into the future.