RTÉ longwave listeners were last night claiming victory after the broadcaster postponed shutting down the service.
The broadcaster has bowed to pressure and revealed that Radio 1 LW 252 will now stay on air until 2017.
The longwave signal, which brings programmes to listeners across Britain and Northern Ireland that cannot access its FM service, was due to be switched off next month.
But it will now operate a full service in 2015, with reduced hours in 2016 before moving towards a full shut-down the following year.
One listener last night described the move as a "U-turn from RTÉ", while another said: "We asked them to listen to the community and they have."
The service was due to end early next year with RTÉ to focus on FM, online and digital radio. Radio chiefs, who also controversially dropped the station's medium wave transmission in 2008, faced an outcry from longwave listeners over their plans.
The national broadcaster claimed that 98 per cent of Radio 1 listeners would be unaffected by the change.
It also stressed that Radio 1 would still be available free-to-air on FM on 87.7 to 90.2 frequencies, DAB digital radio and Saorview, although all of these suffer patchy or non-existent coverage in the north.
RTÉ also said listeners can use the RTÉ Radio Player on their laptops, tablets and phones and on the UK satellite TV service Freesat.
But it was accused of ignoring large numbers of Northern Ireland listeners who can't access the FM signal on their radios, even in the centre of Belfast. Catholic bishops, politicians and groups representing the interests of the elderly criticised the move, with a petition signed by around 2,000 people.
They claimed that older people are likely to be hardest hit by the shutdown, and that "many of them will lose this powerful link with Ireland forever".
Head of RTÉ Radio 1 Tom McGuire said they had listened particularly to the concerns raised by and on behalf of the elderly Irish in the Britain. "Cost reduction remains a key priority for RTÉ and we remain convinced that, in the longer term, longwave has had its day,'' he said. "Nonetheless and despite the mid-term cost impact, RTÉ believes it is necessary to take a collaborative approach and slow this transition."
The Irish Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it is prepared to work with RTÉ to commission specific research to understand the community in Britain and Northern Ireland who listen to the longwave service. Minister Charlie Flanagan said he had heard concerns from many members of the Irish community in Britain about the longwave closure. "Many of these emigrants are older and are very attached to the longwave radio service which brings RTÉ into their homes and is, as such, an important link to their home country," he said. "I know that this announcement will be welcomed by those in Britain, and elsewhere, who have lobbied to keep the service". Minister of State for the Diaspora Jimmy Deenihan added: "While we may have preferred to see the decision reversed, this is an operational matter for RTÉ and the significant deferral of the closure will give time for people to prepare".
* U-TURN: Right, reports in The Irish News in October and November on the RTÉ longwave saga