Madam, - If evidence was required that RTÉ's termination of The Mystery Train and Rattlebag is warranted, it was provided by the contrived concern and outrage of that lengthy list of arty types and other associated aficionados who signed their names to a letter of protest in Monday's edition.
Having listened to The Mystery Train, I often wondered what cultural value Mr Kelly's manufactured playlists - seemingly designed for aspiring Ivor Cutler obscurantists, menopausal Clash listeners, and deliberative In Tua Nua-style eclecticists - added to this country in a day when we can choose our individual playlists and download them from the Internet for private consumption.
Granted, there was some merit in Rattlebag, in that it allowed the listener an extended recovery period from Joe Duffy's Liveline, but other than that, the litany of narcissistic, pretentious "luvvies" and critics paraded to offer their "insights" into culture for the rest of what James Joyce referred to as "the rabblement" was cringeworthy on a scale hitherto unknown, even by RTÉ standards.
The public, not the artistes, have voted with their ears. It's called supply and demand. Good riddance to bad rubbish. - Yours, etc,
ULTAN Ó BROIN, Dublin 8.