PARLIAMENTARIANS' MOTION:RTÉ HAS been urged by a gathering of parliamentarians from Britain and Ireland to seek alternatives to the proposed closure of its London office.
A motion to this effect from Labour MP and former Northern Ireland secretary Paul Murphy was passed by acclamation at a plenary session of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly yesterday.
Originally known as the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body, it was established in 1990 as a link between Westminster and the Oireachtas. Membership now includes representatives of the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Welsh Assembly, the High Court of Tynwald (Isle of Man) and the states of Guernsey and Jersey.
The Seanad chamber is hosting the Assembly for the first time and the two-day plenary session concludes today.
Mr Murphy’s motion, which had the support of 15 members of the Assembly, notes “with concern” the proposal of RTÉ to close its London bureau from September.
It pays tribute to “the illustrious record of service provided by the bureau and its staff”. While recognising “the drastic fall of broadcasting revenue”, the motion notes the concerns of the Irish community in Britain at the decision.
It urges the British and Irish governments “to support the case for retention of the RTÉ London correspondent and assist in the search for alternatives to closure”.
Fine Gael TD Joe McHugh, who is co-chair of the assembly with Conservative MP Laurence Robertson, backed a call by Minister for Tourism Leo Varadkar for the provision of a single tourist visa for people travelling to both countries.
Addressing the parliamentarians, Mr Varadkar said that while Ireland and Britain may not be in a position to join the Schengen area on mainland Europe, there should be a ‘mini-Schengen’ to mutually accept British and Irish visas.
“A tourist from China, for example, can get a visa which takes in the entire Schengen area. But they will have to get a separate visa for the United Kingdom and another one for Ireland,” the Minister said.
Deputy McHugh said: ‘We still have a situation where some international guests require two separate visas to visit Donegal and Derry.”
