A television programme aimed at the thousands of adults who have literacy difficulties has become a major ratings success.
Read Write Now, which airs on RTÉ One on Monday nights, has managed to attract on several occasions almost a quarter of the viewing public, sometimes attracting more viewers than sitcoms such as Friends.
Sources in RTÉ said the programme was performing exceptionally well in peak time, with regular viewing figures of between 150,000 and 250,000.
On certain weeks, the programme (including repeats) has managed to attract an audience of more than 320,000. These viewership figures are regarded as extremely large for a public service educational programme.
The number of adults with reading and writing difficulties in the State is so large that RTÉ decided last year to move the series from a late-night slot to peak time, competing with traditional ratings winners such as Coronation Street.
The move to prime time has resulted in even higher viewing figures, according to the National Adult Literacy Association (NALA), the body which commissioned the programme.
A new series of the programme, which has been approved for funding by the Minister of State with responsibility for adult education, Ms Síle de Valera, started last night and NALA said 3,500 adults had already contacted the group looking for help with their reading and writing.
Mr Kevin Dawson, head of factual programmes at RTÉ, which has responsibility for the programme, said recently at the launch of the new series that the underlying audience reach of between 150,000 and 250,000 viewers an episode represented a "very significant level, in our experience, for programming of this sort".
"We at RTÉ know only too well how expensive it is to produce quality peak-time television. Although RTÉ has made a contribution to the cost of this production, in addition to providing airtime and other support services, it has been the Department of Education which has provided the great bulk of the finance".
He said at a time when budgets were tight this represented a serious commitment.
The programme, while mainly aimed at adults with serious literacy problems, has also attracted a more general audience, including those wishing to improve their reading and writing.
OECD figures released in the late 1990s shocked the education sector when they revealed that about a quarter of the adult population had serious literacy problems. No research has been done since on the current trends, but NALA spokesman Mr Tommy Byrne claimed the television series and workplace literacy programmes were having a major impact.
He said while men were sometimes reluctant to come forward, new ways of delivering literacy tuition were helping. He said many adults had unhappy experiences of education and NALA focused on the positive elements of learning. He said flexible and practical courses were the best way to reach adults.
There is a freephone support line for viewers of the series open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays. The freephone is staffed by experienced tutors who can help with any queries about the lessons included in the TV programmes. The confidential service is available at 1800 20 20 65.