Sir, – John Bowman’s article “Even during RTÉ's darkest hour, its public service ethos has prevailed” (Opinion & Analysis, July 15th) is both timely and very relevant and provides a much-needed context which should help frame much of the current debate.
I was a young academic in UCD Belfield, just across the road from Montrose in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and was frequently invited to take part in TV and radio programmes and as a result had a detached but informed view of how the still young station was evolving.
RTÉ then was a relatively small, almost intimate organisation. It was a place of energy, excitement and ambition but also a place of shadows and fear. The driving ambition as I saw it was to create the public service ethos described by John Bowman and which is personified in his own career. The fear was the ever-present threat of censorship whether of the heavy-handed governmental kind or the more insidious hidden pressures of which there were many and not all of which came from outside. Transparency was a scarce commodity in those days.
All of this – or much of it at least – is well documented but the important point is that those with ambition won, not always easily or fully, but the RTÉ which emerged was a public service broadcaster in the best sense whose integrity was respected, if not always liked or admired.
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I think back to some of the great people of that era who made this happen – producers like Muiris Mac Conghail, broadcasters like Brian Farrell, radio innovators like Mike Burns and brave directors general like Tom Hardiman. But there were so many others in this mould characterised by a principled sense of the privileged responsibility of RTÉ in our national life and its importance in our democracy.
The values of that generation are as valid now as they ever were and might be reflected on by the station’s current leaders.
In conclusion, there are still so many good things about RTÉ. For example, the public service contract of RTÉ with the public is very clearly reflected in the outstanding series of documentaries and other historical programmes which have appeared during the decade of centenaries. – Yours, etc,
MAURICE MANNING,
Dublin 4.
Sir, – Ireland being such a small country, I am surprised to learn that RTÉ refers to a certain group of people as “the talent” and pays them accordingly. I may be too old to search out how one gets into this unique category, but I firmly believe that there is an onus on RTÉ to show the way to the pay. As a public service broadcaster, RTÉ should encourage young and old to display what they can do through a form of talent competitions, not just in singing and dancing, but in serious presentation skills. An invitation to the media and journalism colleges as well as the stage schools would be a good start. – Yours, etc,
TONY CORCORAN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – The debacle has been of such biblical proportions that one hopes “learnings” will be made, perhaps in the form of a latter-day Parable of the Talents. – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL KEEGAN,
Booterstown,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – While trivial matters such as the continuing children’s hospital over-run, the housing crises, considerable public transport waste, etc, are relegated to the sidelines, our politicians provided the RTÉ debacle as the “grand spectacle” to distract us.
Certainly RTÉ needs to be held accountable but please let’s not pretend it’s the most important issue.
Can we get our politicians back to doing the day job properly, please? – Yours, etc,
FRANK MURPHY,
Portmarnock,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – Much wants more in the inflated contractual salaries of the elite presenters who are not indispensable, except to themselves. There is a very stale culture of allowing the status quo to prevail but youth, new talent and well-considered innovations would breathe new life into a stagnant organisation. Bring it on. – Yours, etc,
CYNTHIA CARROLL,
Newport,
Co Tipperary.
Sir, – You state that Ryan Tubridy started as a cub reporter on the Pat Kenny Show (Ticket, July 15th). Not so. Ryan started his broadcasting career on Poparama reviewing books for me. He was 12 years old .
Credit where credit is due. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN HOUGH,
Churchtown,
Dublin 14.