A chara, - With reference to Andy Pollak's report (The Irish Times, October 5th) on Donncha O hEalaithe's campaign against TnaG's present broadcasting policy, I was invited to discuss his views with him on Raidio na Gaeltachta last week. Unfortunately he was neither at Raidio na Gaeltachta's Dublin studio not on a telephone line. I merely had before me a copy of the magazine article to which Andy refers.
I had wished to point out to him that the Neilsen rating system is primarily for mass-audience calculations - the Late Late Show, etc. - and that it does not and cannot deal adequately with minority-interest programming.
Each answer given by a citizen in a Neilsen 600-staffed survey represents, allegedly, the views of almost 7,000 people. Would the fellow next door give the same answer?
Forty years ago this month Gael Linn became the sole Irish-financed and controlled applicant for the franchise to establish the national television network. We failed. A State-company was established which promptly engaged foreigners to the top positions. It took years of personal struggle to go some distance towards nullifying that dire position - the first director-general having announced that Have Gun will Travel would be RTE's first major contribution to Irish television: TV3 please note!
Finally I would like to tell Donncha O hEalaithe that there would be no Teleifis na Gaeilge had Gael Linn got the franchise. On television and on radio we would have introduced a sophisticated atmosphere and code of practice which would not pour buckets of Irish out on the airwaves but the "cupla focal" (agus nios mo de reir a cheile) appropriately and casually dispensed throughout the radio and television schedules. - Yours, etc., Donal O Morain,
An Charraig Dhubh,
Co Baile Atha Cliath.