Sir, - We would like to draw attention to the difficulty in getting TG4 (Irish-language television) on our screens.
At an Irish language class in Belfast a show of hands indicated that only one in four of those present were able to tune in to TG4. This confirmed that many people who would like to receive TG4 cannot do so.
When TG4 (TNaG as it was then) came on air in 1996, 30 per cent of people in Northern Ireland were able to receive its signal from RTE transmission masts in the Republic. Little has changed in the intervening years.
It seems that TG4's hands are tied on this one as it was an Irish Government decision that RTE should construct the necessary transmission system. The same lack of reception is true even in some Gaeltacht areas.
TG4 is available on almost all of the cable TV systems operating in the Republic and this ensures reception for people living in the major cities. Why has NTL not offered the same service to the vibrant and growing Irish-language movement in the Six Counties? We were subjected to massive disruption while cables were laid and now this major company is allowed to cherrypick which services it provides. What planning permission allowed NTL to disregard the provisions of the Belfast Agreement? It is difficult to understand why TG4, the only channel whose signal extension was specified in the Belfast Agreement, was not included in NTL's development.
What progress is being made in this matter? - Yours, etc.,
Noelle Ryan, Desmond Wilson, Springhill Close, Belfast 12.