RTÉ has said it would be fully supporting the new Band Aid charity CD Do They Know It's Christmas? no matter what people think of it. Christine Newman reports.
The station received a wide public reaction when it played the song for the first time on RTÉ Radio One's Marian Finucane programme yesterday morning.
An RTÉ spokeswoman said an unusually large number of listeners sent in texts and e-mails, giving their views on the updated version of the song.
She said initial texts were generally negative, with the consensus that the reworking of the hit was "bland".
However, as the day progressed the reaction became more positive, with the public stressing that the CD was for charity and the people of Africa, and so people should buy it.
In Britain, some local stations have banned the song and refused to play it, saying it was a poor version of the original.
But the RTÉ spokeswoman said:
"RTE radio stations will be fully supporting the record and playing it on their programmes. No matter what people think of it, the CD is all in a good cause."
Written by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure 20 years ago, today's version features vocalists including Coldplay's Chris Martin, Dido, Robbie Williams, the Sugababes, Fran Healy from Travis, Justin Hawkins from The Darkness, Will Young, Jamelia, Ms Dynamite, Joss Stone, Keane's Tom Chaplin, Dizzee Rascal, Morcheeba singer Skye, Beverley Knight, Katie Melua, Snow Patrol, former All Saint Shaznay Lewis, Rachel Stevens, The Thrills, Róisín Murphy of Moloko, Lemar, Estelle, Neil Hannon of Divine Comedy, and Feeder.
Bono, who sang on the original track, also features.
Sir Paul McCartney and Danny Goffey from Supergrass were recorded on Friday.
Ultravox's Midge Ure is executive producer of the new record, which is being sold to help victims of the famine in the Darfur region of Sudan, where 1.8 million people are suffering from hunger.
The Government will refund the VAT on DVD and CD sales of the song to the Band Aid Trust.
The original version, in aid of the Ethiopia famine, featured U2, David Bowie, Sting, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Madonna, Bob Dylan, Bananarama, George Michael and Duran Duran.