MEMBERS of the Irish community in Leeds have joined the campaign against the closure of RTÉ’s longwave 252 service.
The Leeds Irish Centre launched their petition on Tuesday spearheaded by organiser Jason Rooney.
It was passed around the regular attendees of the Irish Centre’s Tuesday Club, where more than 200 members put their names to it.
“The response was extremely enthusiastic,” said Rooney, who is secretary of the Yorkshire GAA.
“So many people came up to me and told us stories and thanked us for what we were doing.”
The campaign leader added that many of the signatories regularly listened to the morning Radio 1 service – which is set to wind up on January 19 next year.
Sally Hyland, who has lived in Leeds for 60 years, listens every day - at home and in her car, she said.
“We’ve also got a little handheld one - and if we go out it goes with us,” she added.
“It would be a sad day if that went.”
Maura Shannon, originally from Clare but living in Leeds for over 50 years, said: “The majority of people who came over in the hard times and sent money to their families – they’d be listening. RTÉ should respect that. They don’t appreciate the people from the hard times.”
Organisers said they planned to spread the petition throughout Britain.
Anyone interested in becoming involved in the campaign should contact Jason Rooney at [email protected] or the Irish in Britain ON 020 7697 4081.
Elsewhere radio campaigner Enda O’Kane is encouraging supporters to log on to his website www.savertelongwaveradio.com.
