A survey carried out by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has found strong support for the establishment of an Irish language radio station for young people.
The survey measured perceptions and attitudes towards Irish language radio programming.
Officially unveiled today by the Minister for Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs Mr Éamon Ó Cuív, the report entitled Turning on and Tuning in to Irish language radio in the 21st Centuryfound that 75 per cent of all respondents would like to see the establishment of a dedicated Irish language radio station for young people.
Eighty-nine per cent of those surveyed felt that promoting the Irish language is important either to them personally or to the country as a whole, or both.
The survey also found that listenership figures for Irish language radio are very healthy with roughly a quarter of the population tuning into Irish language radio occasionally.
Strong support for bilingual programming among all respondents was found, according to the survey, with 84 per cent stating that they would listen to a music programme with English language music and Irish language links - this figure rises to 87 per cent in the 15-34-year-old category.
A further 59 per cent of the total stated that they would listen to a phone-in show broadcast partially in Irish.
Mr Ó Cuív said: "This survey gives us scientific information on the audiences for Irish and bilingual radio programmes. More importantly, it gives us an insight into the needs and requirements of people under 35 with regard to radio broadcasting through Irish."
The Minister said he would now discuss the results of the survey with the Minister for Communications Mr Dempsey, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, RTÉ and Raidió na Gaeltachta.
The need for Irish language radio focused on the 15-35 age group was originally outlined in a report submitted by Coiste Comhairleach na nOg (The Millennium Youth Advisory Committee) in March 2001.