The Athlone transmitter
Sir, – As Ireland celebrates a century of radio broadcasting, why has there been no commemoration of (or events held in) the former RTÉ transmitter station in Athlone? Tributes and focus have been paid to the GPO site, but I think the Athlone site is also iconic. In this centenary year, I think it is being overlooked.
The Athlone transmitter was the first high-power transmitting station in the Republic, officially opened by Éamon de Valera in February 1933. It housed an original 100kW Marconi transmitter, used by the national broadcaster for over 40 years until the mid-1970s.
It might be the only intact transmitter of its type still on its original site anywhere in Europe. If it is, this would make Athlone significant not only in Ireland’s history but also in European broadcasting history.
You reported in your newspaper in 2018 that plans had been announced for a €7.5 million national science and visitor centre in Athlone, with support from Fáilte Ireland, RTÉ, IDA Ireland, and others, which promised to combine a celebration of wireless heritage with a forward-looking focus on science and technology.
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The vision included developing a future lab, educational initiatives, a student broadcasting studio, and exclusive access to RTÉ’s digital archive. Yet, several years on, I wonder what is happening at the Athlone site and with its transmitter.
On some older radio sets, the radio station still appears as Radio Athlone. At this point in Ireland’s radio centennial, the dial should be turned a little and tuned in to Radio Athlone. It would be fantastic to discover what is hiding behind it. Hopefully, Athlone’s historic transmitter is still intact, quietly awaiting its commemoration. – Yours, etc,
BARBARA CLANCY,
Stillorgan,
Co Dublin
McEntee visit to Gaza
Sir, – As Irish doctors, we welcome the fact our Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee has visited the Rafah crossing in Gaza and promised substantial funding for humanitarian aid (“Ireland allocates €42m to help people in Palestine,” Home News, January 14th).
She cannot be surprised to see, at first hand, the deliberate hampering of that same aid getting through by the Israeli authorities. She must also be aware of the continued killing of Palestinian civilians since the ceasefire, including 100 children as reported by Unicef this week, and the indefensible detention of many healthcare workers, all of which amount to war crimes.
It is long overdue that this Government challenged this denial of human rights by passing the Occupied Territories Bill and engaging more robustly in Europe to suspend the trade alliance with the current Israeli state that perpetuates these injustices and which shames us all by association. – Yours, etc
Dr SIOBHAN GRAHAM,
Dr CHRIS ROZARIO,
Dr BRIAN LENNON,
Dr DERMOT LANIGAN,
Dr GERALDINE O’DEA,
Dr GRACE KENNY,
Dr MARY JENNINGS,
Dr ALEXANDRA DUNCAN,
Dr MARIE DRUMGOOLE,
Dr ANN MARIE CONNOLLY,
Dr LAURA BARKER.
A European army?
Sir, – EU defence and space commissioner Andrius Kubilius warned over the weekend that the European Union is obliged to come to Denmark’s assistance if it is faced with military aggression.
Mr Kubilius remarked that “definitely there is such an obligation [on] member states to come for mutual assistance if another member state is facing military aggression.” Speaking at a security conference in Sweden (Folk och Försvar – National Conference 2026) last Sunday, he also called for the creation of a 100,000-strong European standing military force – in effect, a federal army.
The development of an EU military apparatus has been quietly under way for some time and, strangely, the Government here has never considered Irish involvement to be in contradiction to this State’s traditional anti-war policy of military neutrality.
Of course, up to now, one assumption stoking European militarisation was that all threats would come from the east, and the idea that the US would seize EU territory seemingly never occurred to those who lean towards the bloc becoming a military superpower. However, militarism and imperialism can have unexpected outcomes.
So, what now? Is the Irish State – as part of the EU – prepared for armed conflict with the US? While unlikely, this is no longer a bizarre prospect. Are Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael ready to sign up Ireland to a “coalition of the willing” in support of Denmark and Greenland? It was easy to talk valiantly about the need for increased militarisation when the wars were likely to be on the other side of Europe. But what if it comes to our shores?
In a world beset by imperialist states led by dangerous authoritarians such as Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, Ireland should be actively using its neutrality to argue for an end to militarism. The precursor to the EU was supposedly planned as a peace project after the second World War and no one in this country ever voted for it to become a military superpower, something we certainly need less of on this planet and not more.
Mr Kubilius’s call for a large European standing army should be condemned by all political parties on this island. Moreover, there must be a firm rejection of jingoistic rhetoric and toxic braggadocio. Militarism leads to the intolerable horror of war and this should not be normalised. – Yours, etc,
FINTAN LANE,
Lucan,
Co Dublin.
Overpayments to Ministers
Sir, – The information supplied by the Minister for Finance today relating to the apparent overpayments made to current and former ministers is mind-blowing (“More than 30 current and former ministers overpaid in pensions error yet to start repayments” Politics, Janaury 14th).
How can it be that 10 current Ministers are still in talks with the National Shared Services Office about paying back overpayments (of amounts of up to 30k each), seven months after the issue was first reported?
The apparent conduct of 39 former ministers who owe money to the State is worse in that only 17 individuals have made arrangements to repay the money, meaning that 22 have yet to agree a mechanism to repay.
Giving an example such as this is hardly the way to inspire confidence in the body politic. The phrase let them eat cake springs to mind. – Yours, etc,
ANTAINE O’DUIBHIR,
Ranelagh,
Dublin 6.
Master plan for Dún Laoghaire harbour
Sir, – Your article outlining proposed plans for the redevelopment of the Dún Laoghaire port and harbour area (“Revised Dún Laoghaire harbour plan unveiled amid claims of selling off the family jewels,” Home News, January 14th) reminded me of a similar article some years ago showing illustrations of proposed plans for the redevelopment of the Dún Laoghaire baths.
One feature of both plans was a saltwater pool. Unfortunately, this seemingly integral part of the baths plan, infamously, never materialised. It would not inspire great confidence that sea swimmers might finally acquire a safe facility to indulge their passion in the new plan.
It still seems bizarre to me that the area earmarked for a pool at the baths site has afforded skateboarders a higher prioritisation than swimmers. To learn that a commercial hotel and conference centre are also part of the new harbour plan gives further insight into the minds of the planners. A visit to Seapoint, Sandycove of the Forty Foot on any random day would give ample evidence of what local residents really desire. – Yours, etc,
AIDAN BOYLE,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – If the revised plan for the redevelopment of Dún Laoghaire Harbour divides it into six quarters, then the harbour must be bigger than we thought. – Yours, etc,
LOMN Ó LOINGSIGH,
Kiltipper Road,
Dublin 24.
Banning of X
Sir, – Of course people cannot be allowed to generate child porn or to assault women online – and we have laws against those things. But the banning of an entire online platform is not an answer to the problems of law enforcement. So, Finn McRedmond has the right of it (“Grok is awful but banning X is a betrayal of free speech,” Opinion, January 15th).
We’ve been here before in this country. Not so long ago we had censorship of publications legislation, a legal farrago which was, among other things, totally counterproductive. If X were banned now there would be nothing to stop evil-doers from downloading the Grok software directly, manufacturing their nefarious wares offline, and uploading them to any or all other platforms.
The irony is that the very technology that allowed for the development of Grok is the very resource that can track down the perpetrators of the abuse we are concerned about. AI is turning out to be bad at many things but it has been shown that it can be used to interrogate large amounts of data almost instantaneously, meaning that it can, with assistance from human experts, identify wrongdoers who can then be brought to justice.
Taking a sledgehammer-type approach is no answer to the issues we are confronted with at present. – Yours, etc,
SEAMUS McKENNA,
Maynooth,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – I fear Finn McRedmond is echoing the current US Republican Party justification for allowing the publication of anything in the name of free speech, no matter the cost to society (“Grok is awful but banning X is a betrayal of free speech,” Opinion, January 15th).
In the case of X, which in her own words enables the distribution of a “tidal wave of non-consensually generated porn”, how can this stance justify the damage caused to one innocent life?
If Elon Musk, with all his money, power and resources, can’t or won’t control this content, he doesn’t deserve to operate in this State. – Yours, etc,
DON DOYLE,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.
End of daily postal delivery
Sir, – I see An Post is about to increase the price of postage stamps in early February, and that we are in danger of losing our daily postal delivery service (“Days may be numbered for daily letters,” Cantillon, Business, January 13th).
This potential new situation is a far cry from the postal service in bygone days. This point is well illustrated in James Joyce’s Ulysses which takes place on June 16th, 1904.
In 1904, according to Thom’s Directory, there were five deliveries of mail in Dublin each weekday, commencing at 7am, noon, 2.20pm, 6.10pm and 8.00pm. There was one delivery on Sundays.
In early morning, when Leopold Bloom returns to his home having purchased a pork kidney at Dlugacz’s butchers in Dorset Street, he noticed that “two letters and a card lay on the hallfloor”. Later on that evening, when Bloom had finished his “shenanigans” with Gerty McDowell on Sandymount Strand he observed “giving his everwelcome double knock, ... the nine o’clock postman, the glowworm’s lamp at his belt gleaming here and there through the laurel hedges”.
We are progressing from five daily postal deliveries to possibly none. How things have changed! – Yours, etc,
ROBERT P GOGAN
Kilbeggan,
Co Westmeath.
