Letters

RTÉ – in search of accountability

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Thu Jun 29 2023 - 00:07

Sir, – A great new name for a car – the Renault Bonus. Really smooth and very, very quiet. So quiet that your friends and neighbours will barely know you have one. – Yours, etc,

DAVID CURRAN,

Knocknacarra,

Galway.

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Sir, – As someone who worked on the editorial side of RTÉ for 30 years, I agree completely with Jim Duggan (Letters, June 28th) that its excessive services and dual funding are at the root of the recent abuse of governance and public trust.

Attempts within the station over the years to cut back on its activities – while retaining the essentials of popular public service media – have been frustrated by internal opposition. Meanwhile, the necessity to “get the money in”, as the colleagues in RTÉ Commercial used accurately and robustly call it, is a persistent influence on editorial policy. It also inhibits the growth of commercial media in Ireland.

Anyone, whether in RTÉ or outside it, who is serious about changing the “culture” of public service media will focus on those two things. – Yours, etc,

DAVID McKENNA,

Dublin 8.

Sir, – Dee Forbes says she consulted with colleagues on the accounting and legal aspects of the deal. Did she consult with anyone on the ethical issues? – Yours, etc,

PAUL WALDRON,

Dublin 16.

Sir, – Is it just me‚ or is RTÉ, with a few notable exceptions, having a massive and seemingly never-ending on-air hissy fit at our expense? – Yours, etc,

RORY E MacFLYNN,

Blackrock,

Co Dublin.

Sir, – I have always found accusations of “begrudgery” very interesting. It was used very effectively during the worst excesses of the Celtic Tiger years to shut down criticism, and look where that got us.

Before it gets bandied about any more during this present controversy, might I suggest that people consider whether the motivation might not be envy but rather that what is happening is wrong?

Having said that, given what we now know about RTÉ, the lack of equipment and the fact (which I think is disgraceful) that some staff are on zero-hours contracts, upset and outrage might be in there too. – Yours, etc,

COLETTE KAVANAGH,

Dublin 7.

Sir, – Perhaps all public bodies should make it a condition of employment or contracts that individuals make themselves available to attend Oireachtas committees. – Yours, etc,

AIDAN RODDY,

Dublin 18.

Sir, – RTÉ staff have performed very professionally during this present crisis.

Well done. – Yours, etc,

HUGH FORTUNE,

Gorey,

Co Wexford.

Sir, – For three years, working for RTÉ, I was modestly involved in the commissioning of the TAM, RTÉ’s audience measurement process. I joined RTÉ about a year before the opening at the Gresham Hotel in Dublin on New Year’s Eve 1961.

Although I subsequently moved on to other fields, I have continued to have a small paternal interest in the fortunes and misfortunes of RTÉ since then.

Like a fond grandparent, I now watch the current row with sad amusement.

The basics have not changed since 1961. RTÉ's dependence on revenue from both commercial and public sources creates an inevitable conflict which leaves whoever is in charge with an almost impossible task. The economy goes up and down, generations of politicians see RTÉ both as a convenient platform, on occasions, and as a political football when the weather changes.

Will we see RTÉ, an important component of our society, gradually decline, due to inadequate resources and increased political interference? – Yours, etc,

ANTONY SUTTLE,

Blackrock,

Co Dublin.

Sir, – Coverage of the RTÉ payment scandal seems broadly to imply that only the second and third €75,000 outlays were problematic, due to RTÉ's incomprehensible underwriting of said payments.

But the first €75,000 payment did not come out of the commercial partner’s pocket. Rather, their overall RTÉ sponsorship bill was reduced by the same amount via a credit note, meaning the cost was ultimately borne by RTÉ rather than the partner.

While the credit note is variously mentioned, I don’t believe coverage makes sufficiently explicit that all three payments came from the semi-State coffer. – Yours, etc,

ALAN MURPHY,

Dublin 16.

Sir, – Reeling in the Years? After this week, I’d say RTÉ will be reeling for years. – Yours, etc,

Dr PAUL LAVIN,

Dublin 8.

Sir, – Dee Forbes, in her statement, says she is “proud of her contribution to RTÉ” (News, June 24th). Does she include efforts to close Lyric fm in this contribution? – Yours, etc,

HARRY BOND,

Killurin,

Co Wexford.

Sir, – The argument that RTÉ is irrelevant to modern Irish society must surely now be off the table. – Yours, etc,

ROB MARSHALL,

Dublin 3.

Sir, – Those whom the media destroy, they first make famous. – Yours, etc,

NEIL CRONIN,

Mallow,

Co Cork.

Sir, – I don’t feel qualified to comment on any of RTÉ's “celebrities” because, as soon as one appears on RTÉ radio or television, I switch over or off immediately. – Yours, etc,

MARGARET FARRELL,

Dublin 14.

Sir, – It seems that celebrity is where we manufacture a myth of extraordinary from the ordinary and then patiently wait in the long grass for the ordinary to appear. – Yours, etc,

LEO LAWLER,

Dublin 3.