New RTÉ Western Regional Studio Opens at GMIT
RTÉ’s new Western Regional Studio at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) officially opened today, Monday 29th May 2017, marking a new partnership between the two organisations.
RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes and President of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology Professor Fergal Barry performed the official opening duties, with political representatives and a wide range of guests from the arts and business sector at the new premises.
Five years ago RTÉ announced a regional strategy which would see RTÉ regional operations around the country partner with local institutes of technology, including the relocation of four offices and studios to IT campuses.
An event on Monday officially marked RTÉ’s Western Regional Studio’s move onto the site of Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology’s Cluain Mhuire campus. RTÉ’s new location sees it join Galway Film Centre at the site which is located at GMIT’s Centre for Creative Arts and Media.
RTÉ’s staff in the region, who include Western Correspondent Pat McGrath and Regional Reporter Teresa Mannion along with staff from Nuacht and Raidió na Gaeltachta will work from the new premises which has the capability to provide live television links, full radio studio broadcasts and editing facilities. The team will continue to provide reports and coverage across RTÉ News,Nationwide and links into RTÉ current affairs programming from their new location. The brand new radio studio offers state of the art facilities which will continue to allow RTÉ flagship radio programmes across all broadcast platforms come from Galway.
RTÉ’s Western Regional Studio is a base for coverage from the western seaboard areas with the new facilities providing opportunities to enhance coverage of the area.
Director General, RTÉ, Dee Forbes said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology and look forward to a productive relationship with a shared aim of serving the community. Regional operations such as RTÉ’s are a vital part of the Irish media landscape and a key public service offering. This project, with brand new studio facilities, has seen RTÉ invest substantially to continue its commitment to regional output. Educational partnerships like this also link RTÉ to a future generation of media industry leaders. We look forward to developing our partnership with GMIT with continued enthusiasm.”
Dr Fergal Barry, President of GMIT, says: “We are delighted to welcome RTÉ to our location here in the new Galway School of Design & Creative Arts. The School brings together under one new structure the Centre for Creative Arts and Media and the National Centre for Excellence in Furniture Design and Technology at Letterfrack. Our association with RTÉ and its expertise in modern media technologies will add a new dimension to our programmes at the Centre for Creative Arts and Media on the Monivea Road in Galway, particularly our film and documentary degree programme. At postgraduate level we are also delighted to have added an MA in Creative Practice and we are developing a new MA in Film and Documentary. By 2020 we expect to have 900 full and part time undergraduate and postgraduate students studying in the Galway School of Design and Creative Arts.”
RTÉ is also continuing in the development of partnerships with institutes of technology in Athlone, Dundalk and Waterford – as well as that in Galway-Mayo.
