Sir, – Perhaps Conar Dunne (Letters, April 30th.) would be kind enough to let me know where on YouTube he found the concerts from the National Concert Hall in Dublin. I have been unable to find them.
In the meantime he might like to think about this simple comparison. At €9.40 for 20 the cost of a single cigarette is 47 cent. The daily cost of a TV licence is just under 44 cent, for which we get the service of three TV stations (not two as he states), plus the RTÉ radio stations, for which no charge is made. The value of the stations he “doesn’t want” is the same value one attaches to having our own newspapers, which compared to newspapers elsewhere are inordinately expensive. Their “value” is that they reflect us and our own values and concerns, warts and all. Mr Dunne might also consider that the “wonderful concerts” at the NCH to which he refers are given predominantly by the two orchestras and other performing groups (including the RTÉ Philharmonic Choir, the members of which are unpaid), which are funded and managed by RTÉ, from the 44 cent a day that it costs the licence fee payer. Surely all this is worth more than the cost of a cigarette? Yours, etc,
PADRAIG O’ROURKE,
Shrewsbury,
Merrion Road,
Dublin 4