September 7 1974
Looking back over fifty years of broadcasting from the BBC’s Belfast station is like looking back over one’s life: the sunny days seem to be mostly in the distant past.
The Gold Age was in the late 1930s. By then the initial novelty of radio had worn off and Belfast ceased to be a relay station transmitting whatever London cared to send. ‘Regionalism’ became the in-word: stations were to reflect the life of their region.
Not only were the works of established Ulster dramatists like George Shiels and St John Ervine available, but some memorable feature programmes were specially written for radio, eg Denis Johnston’s “Lilibulero”, WR Rodger’s “Armagh”. Many other younger men and women were given a market for their plays, short stories and talks.
The borders of the Ulster region were not too strictly patrolled. Writers and actors from the south were welcomed to Belfast and the Raidió Éireann Orchestra appeared in the Ulster Hall under BBC auspices.
On the debit side must be placed the timidity of the higher administration of the station; the touching of forelocks to the London establishment; the bobbing of curtseys in the direction of Hillsborough. No political or social controversy was permitted; there was no time for Gaelic games; there were no top jobs for Ulster Catholics.
There was a second brief flowering in the period between the end of the war and the coming of television. On Saturday nights, Bobby Greer, Bella McCoubrey and a host of other McCooey characters united Falls and Shankill in bonds of laughter. Later came the admirable programmes of Irish history for schools.
Another step forward was marked by the first discussion programmes in which speakers of various shades of opinion aired their views on controversial topics. This helped to break the log jam that had inhibited political change.
The rate of change was quickened by TV. Those pictures of the civil rights march to Derry showed that a new and potent instrument of political change had arrived. Since then governments have been striving to muffle its effects.
With the growth of TV, the importance of sound radio declined and the autonomy of the Belfast station was curtailed. Its output on TV seems to be limited to one news bulletin per day and an occasional discussions programme, where any angle on anything must be balanced by the opposite view, however ill-informed or misleading.
