Reports of the demise of Cursai Ealaine were, it seems, premature. At the end of last year, production teams on both of RTE's TV arts programmes, Cursai Ealaine and Later with John Kelly, were told that they would not be continuing into 2000. "The first we knew about it was when we were told before Christmas," says Cursai Ealaine series producer Philip McGovern. "It was explained to us that the decision was purely financial. None of these decisions were ever made for reasons of policy." Later with John Kelly did indeed get the axe, but Cursai Ealaine was granted a reprieve, and is now returning to our screens on May 30th with "a limited edition of six arts documentaries", under the new label of Cursai Ealaine Teoranta.
One of the problems in writing about recent difficulties at RTE has been the understandable reluctance of the company's employees to go on the record with criticisms of the organisation. McGovern is moving next month to take up a post with BBC Northern Ireland, where he will be responsible for the conception, development, pitching and making of network television commissions for BBC1 and BBC2, across factual, music and arts programming.
He is particularly well placed, therefore, as an experienced senior producer with 15 years' experience in RTE, BBC and the independent sector, to comment on the problems and challenges which RTE faces. His words are measured and carefully chosen, but they reflect some of the key frustrations among programme-makers. "It seemed very short-sighted of RTE to cut both arts programmes at the same time," he says, although he acknowledges the serious financial difficulties faced by the broadcaster.
Under attack from artists and critics, RTE soon denied that Cursai Ealaine had been axed at all (and has never admitted to reversing its original decision). Instead, the Cursai team was asked to come up with a new brief. "Coming into the New Year, we were asked to do profiles, similar to the under- COVER profiles of writers. We had always wanted to do something like that, but the way it was put to us was extremely limited," says McGovern.
The team came back to management with a proposal for a series of documentaries on different subjects. Three are biographical profiles - of painters Sean Scully and Brian Maguire, and of writer-director Gerry Stembridge - while the other three are subject-driven: on public art, guitars and the place of ancient oral traditions in a modern, audiovisual culture.
"It's an eclectic mix," says McGovern. "There were some things we wanted to do, which weren't possible within the timeframe, but you can't always achieve everything you want, because of the realities of people's schedules and whatever activity is going on at a given time." While, as a magazine programme, Cursai Ealaine was always predominantly in Irish, this proved more difficult to achieve with the new format. "We were always happy that Cursai was seen as an arts programme first, and an Irish-language programme second. With a magazine show you can have two out of your three items in Irish. . . In this series, only one of the six programmes is in Irish, so that raises questions about linguistic policy in the future."
He is at pains to point out that he doesn't believe the six-year-old magazine series had any particular right to remain in the schedules. On the contrary, he believes it was time to review the format when the programme came to the end of its scheduled 1999/2000 run at Easter. He would like to have seen the experience and contacts of the production team deployed in new ways on further projects. "We wanted to do a plan that would reflect the schedule and calendar of arts events throughout the year, and to use that as a basis for bringing a further rigour in our approach to the subject," he says. It's a recurring complaint within RTE, he agrees, that talent and resources are not as well-used as they should be, because of short-term problem-solving and an absence of long-term planning.
Since then, Joe Mulholland has himself departed from his post as director of television, to be replaced by former Ceannasai of TG4, Cathal Goan. "Longer-term, I'd be more confident that under Cathal Goan there'll be a strategic approach, rather than an ad hoc one," says McGovern. "I'd be optimistic, not least because he was the person who facilitated Cursai Ealaine in the first place, when he was at RTE."
There is a sense that creative producers and directors within RTE are finding it increasingly difficult to get their ideas onto our screens. One reason cited by some is the increasing proportion of programming provided by independent companies, particularly in the areas of documentary and features. "We're not against independent productions, and we certainly don't want to be set against them," insists McGovern. "I've worked with independents right through my career." But he does think that the statutory requirement for independent production has had a disproportionate impact on features and documentaries. "There was an effort by RTE producers to ensure a pro rata balance when it came to the independent quota between the various departments. To be fair to Joe Mulholland, he was trying to do that."
McGovern would like to see a situation where programmers' interests would be represented at committee level. He describes a situation at the moment in which "individual producers are lobbying hard to get their programmes on air. Then people are surprised by the ratings those documentaries achieve, but it was a battle to get them on the air in the first place."
He points to the disappearance of the "true lives" documentary strand, and to the way in which single programmes, such as the Terry Keane programme and his own recent documentary, Doohoma, pop up as standalone items in the schedules, rather than in coherent strands. "There is a problem with the one-off documentary, if it's not placed within the context of an identifiable strand. If you look at Channel 4's Cutting Edge, for example, it seems to have a strong sense of `Britain Today'. What about `Ireland Today?' If it were me, I would go for personal stories that have a good story spine running through them, rather than flabby profiles."
At the moment, it seems that Cursai Ealaine will be back in the autumn, but with a new team behind the cameras - directors Tadhg Mac Dhonnagain and Fiona Keane are also moving on (to TG4's Ros na Run and RTE's Fair City respectively). The dream of a resource of experience and knowledge on which to draw for future arts programming seems a long way from being realised.
"I don't want to sound too negative," says McGovern. "Television everywhere has a problem with arts coverage. I know the BBC has certainly had difficulties in recent years. I'd like to initiate a debate, though, having gone through this rather tough re-invention, to discuss where we are and where we're going. RTE should have a good look in its heart and soul, see what it does well and build on that."
Cursai Ealaine Teoranta begins on RTE1 on Tuesday, May 30th, at 10 p.m.
