With the Irish radio sector celebrating 100 years of radio in Ireland, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Denis Naughten unveiled a plaque this week to commemorate the first radio broadcast which took place 100 years ago to announce the Easter Rising.
The first radio broadcast was a morse code message written by James Connolly and transmitted on Easter Tuesday, 1916 which read; Irish Republic declared in Dublin today. Irish troops have captured city and are in full possession. Enemy cannot move in city. The while country rising”.
The broadcast took place close to the GPO in what was then The Wireless School of Telegraphy at 10-11 Sackville Street. The building now houses
The Grand Central Bar on what we now know as O’Connell Street.
The plaque was proposed by the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI), RTÉ Radio and the creative agency Boys and Girls Creative agency as part of the celebration of radio’s unique role in the 1916 Rising.
John Purcell, Chairman of IBI said “Radio’s part in the 1916 Easter Rising is a little known fact, even amongst radio people in Ireland. This commemorative plaque reminds us of the endurable nature of radio, the power of the medium of radio to reach people and to share the news of the day. More importantly, it is a timely reminder of the important role that radio has played in the lives of the people of Ireland for well over 100 years.
Head of RTÉ Radio 1, Tom McGuire said: “RTÉ is honoured to be a part of this historic occasion to mark 100 years since the birth of broadcasting in Ireland. This historic event where Morse code, which was a precursor to radio, was used to send a message to the world about the Easter Rising. It is pertinent that Ireland’s first radio station, Raidió Éireann began broadcasting from a spot close by a decade later in 1926.
Rory Hamilton of Boys and Girls added; “the Sound of Sixteen set out to mark the 100th anniversary of Ireland’s first ever radio broadcast, so to be able to end the campaign by physically marking the broadcast site is something we’re all very proud of.”
