Sir, - Even a comedy correspondent should be in the journalistic business of checking facts. The performers claimed by Brian Boyd (June 5th) to have been considered by RTE not to have been "good enough" to appear on RTE television have, in fact, done so and have done so many times.
Sean Hughes has appeared on quite a number of RTE shows over the years, from TV GaGa to the 12 part Signal Box shown earlier this season. Ardal O'Hanlon appeared regularly on Nighthawks as part of "Mr Trellis". Dylan Moran has appeared on the Late Late Show. Figure that out!
And does Mr Boyd really believe, as he implies, that RTE would be solely responsible if new Irish comic talent has to emigrate to make a living. Or could it have something to do with the size of the market for comedy performers? Yours, etc.,
Managing Editor,
Entertainment Television,
Radio Telefis Eireann,
Dublin 4.
Brian Boyd writes: My report did not say that Sean Hughes and Ardal Q'Hanlon never appeared on RTE, it merely pointed out that they were nurtured and developed by Channel 4. You are right about Dylan Moran, my records show that he did appear on RTE for a period of six minutes in 1992.