One of the mathematical laws of political life is that the more a government insists on its nationalistic credentials, the less likely it is to worry about foreign ownership of national resources. In these days of economic globalisation and free trade, the very idea of a national resource has become profoundly unfashionable. Yet, there are still some things that an independent nation needs. Without its own physical and cultural infrastructure, its political sovereignty becomes largely theoretical.
We have already become one of the few developed countries whose national telecommunications system is now almost wholly controlled by Wall Street investment bankers. Only the disastrous state of the aviation industry worldwide has prevented the same thing happening to Aer Lingus, which up to a few months ago was still being prepared for privatisation. The break-up of the company and its passage into foreign ownership would have followed.
These developments have at least been the subject of public interest and debate. Yet a parallel and perhaps even more significant surrender of public resources has happened almost without comment. It concerns a key part of the cultural infrastructure of any distinctive society - the broadcast media. Last week, with little debate, we officially abandoned any real effort to maintain a diverse and specifically Irish commercial broadcasting sector. The way was opened for two companies based outside the State - Scottish Radio Holdings and UTV - to dominate the field of commercial and local radio.
The Radio and Television Act of 1988 requires the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (previously known as the IRTC) "to formulate and apply a policy that takes account of plurality of ownership and diversity of content in broadcasting". Until last week, that policy was that no company could own more than 27 per cent of an independent radio station.
This restriction was waived earlier this year when the commission agreed to let UTV purchase 60 per cent of the County Sound station. Last Thursday, the policy was formally abandoned altogether, so as to allow SRH to purchase 100 per cent of the State's only national commercial radio station, Today FM. The BCI also agreed to allow any one owner to control up to 25 per cent of all commercial broadcasting licences.
At the same time, the BCI is also giving up any credible claim to being a serious regulatory body which will enforce the terms under which such radio licences were issued in the first place. The language of its statement last week would be familiar to anyone who has ever studied, for example, George Bush's approach to regulating the oil industry: "The BCI intends to adopt a lighter touch, that is, a facilitative approach to regulation, in the light of prevailing conditions, while adhering to its statutory obligations of ensuring pluralism and diversity in the interests of the listener and viewer. It sees its role as being largely confined to formulating basic principles, which will be formalised in actual agreements with broadcasters."
The BCI promising to adopt a lighter regulatory touch is like Roy Keane promising to bring a bit of aggression into his game. Angels stroking your skin with fluff from day-old ducklings could not have a lighter touch than the BCI has shown. This is the body that allowed Radio Ireland to dump most of its current affairs content when, under the direction of that great source of contemporary cultural creativity, Chris Evans's Ginger Productions, it transformed itself into Today FM. (To declare an interest , I occasionally present the bit that remains of the original current affairs content, The Last Word.)
Radio Ireland, it should be recalled, was going to be "a national broadcaster, not a song-and-dance emporium", placing equal emphasis on "information, education and entertainment". It would have a "stream of political, cultural and community figures entering Radio Ireland's studios early in the morning". Maybe Ian Dempsey and Ray D'Arcy are great political, cultural and community figures, but I'm not sure that's what we thought we were getting when the national radio licence was awarded. The then IRTC whimpered for a while when the station's daytime schedule was reduced to just another slab of commercial formatting, but it did nothing.
As for commercial television, the BCI's failure to impose any kind of standards is obvious even on its own website. It tells us that our one commercial TV station, TV3, is committed to presenting "a full representation of life in Ireland and of its interaction with the rest of the world". Never mind that tonight this translates into Emmerdale, Coronation Street, Family Affairs, Emmerdale again, the Champions League and the Jerry Springer Show. The BCI doesn't even have to pick up the television pages to see what a joke the high-sounding proclamation is. It only has to look at its own web-page which proudly proclaims the target audience of TV3 as "15-44 year olds". Life in Ireland, apparently, doesn't include anyone under 15 or over 44.
There is, perhaps, a certain honesty is abandoning the pretence of regulation in the public interest to the mercies of the global marketplace. We're not even allowed that crumb of comfort, however, since the rhetoric of the nation is being dusted off in the run-up to the election. Even when there's nothing left to wrap the green flag around, they'll wave it all the more vigorously.
fotoole@irish-times.ie