GWEN WOODS,
Sir, - Síle de Valera deserves to be congratulated on limiting public funds to RTE. The station is currently engaged in a love-in with itself. How many more programmes must we, the paying public endure, celebrating 70 years of radio or 40 years of television? This trotting-out of some good and some awful RTE characters is boring and arrogant. We were stuck with them for good or for bad long enough. For most of the country it was the only choice.
We have suffered the most provincial and mundane New Year's Eve programmes - old hat and boring with what looked like everyone's granny in the audience. Pat Kenny, live from New York on St Patrick's Day, continues to depress us. The good and vibrant New Yorkers are getting on with their lives and living the new day. Not for them the rehashing of their September nightmare on this celebration day.
Andy O'Mahony, who has a broad understanding of social and political aspects of Ireland, has been dropped from Sunday morning's programme. Morning Ireland has finally moved into the 20th century by broadcasting from 7 a.m., but I fear that the admirably courteous David Hanley may not last the pace. The programme's technical team (ruefully called "gremlins") leave him and Áine Lawlor mid-stream with disconnected phone calls, broken tapes and raucous advertisements bursting in upon global reports. In our home Morning Ireland is affectionately known as "do not adjust your set". - Yours, etc.,
GWEN WOODS,
Herbert Park,
Dublin 4.