Sir, - The decision of RTE to dispense with personnel from the Irish Meteorological Service is regrettable. We do not know as yet, what form the revamped weather forecasting programme will take but one gets the impression that it will tend towards being jaunty, and maybe even skittish. I believe this would be a big mistake, despite the trend elsewhere.
There are certain subjects that simply do not lend themselves to levity and frivolity. The weather forecast is surely one of these.
For more than three decades the weathermen, and weatherwomen of the Meteorological Service have done a splendid job in presenting the weather forecast on television, and also on radio. They have done so with poise, competence and decorum. Is this all going to change?
I believe that the majority of viewers would wish for the present arrangement to continue. It is an illusion that change always makes for progress; the reverse is often the case. To quote a phrase of the day: "If it is not broken, why fix it?" -Yours, etc., Ernan Morris,
Ballymoe Court, Bray, Co Wicklow.