§ Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Minister of Posts and Telecommunications (1) if he will make a statement on his recent meeting with the Minister of Posts of the Government of the Irish Republic;
(2) if he will consult elected representatives of the Northern Ireland Assembly before making his decision about RTE television transmission to the whole of Northern Ireland.
§ Sir J. EdenThe following Press statement was issued after my meeting with Dr. O'Brien on 30th January
Sir John Eden, Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, met Dr Conor Cruise O'Brien, the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs of the Republic of Ireland in London today. This meeting followed a number of meetings between British and Irish officials after Dr. O'Brien's call last May for an Irish 'Open Broadcasting Area.'Dr O'Brien told Sir John that his Government wished to explore further the possibility of a BBC television service being transmitted in the Republic of Ireland and he asked Sir John if the BBC could estimate the cost of providing BBC1 in its entirety to the Republic. Sir John agreed to ask the BBC to do this.Sir John explained that if the Irish Government found the arrangements acceptable and decided to take a BBC service for the Republic this could not be construed as binding Her Majesty's Government to any reciprocal arrangement to broadcast Radio Telifis Eireann in Northern Ireland. Sir John also explained that the Government had not yet decided whether the Fourth Television Channel should be brought into use and any decision about its use in Northern Ireland would have 212W to take into account the Government's general broadcasting policies at the time and views the Northern Ireland Executive.