Sir, - Muiris Mac Conghail (September 6th) questions RTE Radio's editorial policy following the broadcast of an interview with Patrick Magee last Tuesday. The interview, conducted by Marian Finucane, was precisely that: an interview - not, as Mr Mac Conghail describes it, "a 50-minute address to an Irish audience by Patrick Magee." The decision to broadcast the interview was subject to the usual editorial considerations which are applied in such circumstances, while the research and quality of the interview bore testimony to the high professional standards of both the programme makers and presenters on RTE Radio 1.
The early release of prisoners under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement is an aspect of that agreement which has provoked a myriad of responses from all shades of opinion and challenged societies both at home and abroad. Two national governments took the decision on early releases and it seems to us that it is the journalist's responsibility to reflect the effect of that decision. While the opinions of the bereaved, the victims, politicians and community leaders have been heard, it is also legitimate to question the ex-prisoners themselves.
In broadcasting the interview with Patrick Magee, RTE Radio 1 was presenting to its audience the more difficult side of the story. There is a general acceptance that the more open broadcasting climate of recent years had a role in the peace process and it was in the context of hearing all sides of the story that the Magee interview was broadcast. Mr Mac Conghail seems to suggest that we may read what Patrick Magee thinks, but not hear him say it. We believe the audience can make their own minds up. Mr Mac Conghail suggests that the interview was designed to garner a greater audience at the start of a new schedule. The fact is that a number of the audience expressed their dissatisfaction with the views of Mr Magee. Public service broadcasting is not always popular. - Yours, etc.,
Tom McGuire, Executive Producer Daytime Radio, RTE, Donnybrook, Dublin 4.