Sir, - The political situation in Northern Ireland is a serious matter and deserves extensive reporting and analysis. The success or failure of the Good Friday Agreement will have profound consequences for the citizens of Northern Ireland, the Republic and, to a lesser extent, the UK.
However, the amount of media time and resources consumed by Northern Ireland reportage has grown to excessive proportions. This is especially true of RTE radio. It is not unusual for the station to dedicate three-quarters of its flagship news programmes to the North and the remaining quarter to other matters in the Republic and the wider world.
The media play a crucial role in society by keeping citizens informed on all matters of importance. An obsession with one particular issue inevitably minimises the coverage of other, more urgent matters. For example, the most serious threat to Irish democracy is the total failure of the political system to confront and deal with the insidious corruption which has infected the business and political communities of the State to an alarming degree.
There is, of course, corruption in every country, but some countries are in themselves corrupt by virtue of the fact that they do not have the necessary laws and political will to investigate and prosecute the guilty. Ireland is one such case.
While continuing to report on events in the North, it is vital that the media begin to look at the bigger picture in the South and start to ask some hard questions about just what is going on in this country. - Yours, etc.,
Anthony Sheridan, Carraig Eoin, Cobh, Co Cork.