Sir, – Well done to RTÉ News on broadcasting the RTÉ board representatives at the public accounts committee hearing. The content is far superior to any programme aired recently.
I look forward to the repeats. – Yours, etc,
DOLORES MEADE,
Mallow,
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Co Cork.
Sir, – Dee Forbes must take ultimate responsibility for the loss of an RTÉ string quartet, the running down of the National Symphony Orchestra (the number of vacancies in its ranks is truly extraordinary) before having it transferred to the remit of the National Concert Hall (which, even if it has experience of “housing” the orchestra, has no record of being responsible for one), failing to resource adequately the RTÉ Concert Orchestra (it has had no principal conductor since late 2016), and constantly undermining Lyric fm, and that’s before the litany of lost opportunities for Irish composers and broadcast performances is detailed.
Kevin Bakhurst will only be able to do so much when he takes up the reins next month, and I worry that most of his time and energy will be absorbed in trying to clean the Augean stable. – Yours, etc,
Dr GEOFFREY SPRATT,
(Retired Director of the Cork School of Music (1992-2016)
and former UCC lecturer in music (1976-92),
Cork.
Sir, – Can I respectfully ask who is queuing up to employ the RTÉ “talent’”?
What seems to inform the negotiating process on fees is a sense that if the offer is not robust enough then the “talent” will go elsewhere? Newstalk? They already have a roster of competent presenters. Ditto Virgin Media. Abroad? Off this island none of these people are known. RTÉ needs to call this bluff and put a capped, “take it or leave” pay offer on the table.
When I worked for a national cultural institution, the pay of the director was linked to the scale of a principal secretary in a government department. RTÉ's “talent” have fees well in excess of anything paid to Government Ministers and the Taoiseach himself.
It’s time for a dose of reality. – Yours, etc,
BEN BARNES,
Saltmills,
Co Wexford.
Sir, – The inclusion by RTÉ of a glass-topped coffee table on the set of the Late Late Show appears to have been its only effort at providing some transparency. – Yours, etc,
NOEL SHANAGHY,
Faithlegg,
Co Waterford.
Sir, – It is overdue that RTÉ has its own negotiator to face off with agents, instead of the gullible and seemingly jelly-legged executives who have acquitted themselves so poorly.
The next time a cosseted presenter or their agent threatens to take their talents elsewhere, let them. – Yours, etc,
ALAN MURPHY,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 16.
A chara, – I would strongly urge the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to familiarise themselves with the fifth labour of Hercules – the cleansing of the Augean stables – in reaching an approach to reform RTÉ at board and executive level. – Yours, etc,
JOSEPH DOYLE,
Thomastown,
Co Kilkenny.
Sir, – Does the current RTÉ controversy not highlight the absurdity of rendering the public broadcasting station dependent on going cap in hand to commercial interests to part-fund its functions through advertising?
In the age of “fake news” and the relentless assault on democracy by an increasingly threatening authoritarian right globally, is it not time for Minister for Media Catherine Martin and her colleagues in Government to “front up” and properly support RTÉ from central funding?
In the context of the debate around how to deploy the surplus revenue accruing from corporate taxes, surely they can find the pittance required to shore up democracy? – Yours, etc,
JACK O’CONNOR,
Naas,
Co Kildare.
Sir, – Now that Siún Ní Raghallaigh has acknowledged that RTÉ was effectively bidding against itself when negotiating contracts for its “stars”, maybe it is time that all the high contracts are negotiated downwards. The number of hours per week that the presenters are on air is very small, considering how much they are paid.
RTÉ might then be able to commission new programmes and spare us repeats of repeats of repeats.
A Christmas edition of Ear to the Ground in mid-summer? We don’t deserve that. – Yours, etc,
BOB TWIGG,
Kilmeaden,
Co Waterford.
Sir, – I would prefer to see my licence fee spent on developing aspiring young journalists‚ writers and filmmakers than celebrities with agents demanding outrageous fees. It’s time for a change. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL STOREY,
Glencar,
Sligo.
Sir, – So you can be at once both woke and cancelled. Who knew? – Yours, etc,
LEO LAWLER,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – The RTÉ hearings are looking good for the IFTA television awards. You couldn’t make it up. – Yours, etc,
THOMAS MORRIS GORMALLY,
Rathangan,
Co Kildare.