Sir, - Your reporter Robert O'Byrne (The Irish Times, January 5th) derived some amusement from his photo-call assignment to meet some of the comedians featured in the new RTE Network 2 documentary series The Green Green Grass of Home. What a pity he did not check his facts before making some serious allegations against RTE, and against the staff of its press office in particular.
Mr O'Byrne claimed that RTE was "announcing a new television series on Irish comics the day after the first programme was broadcast", and went on later to write that our explanation was that "the New Year had disrupted arrangements in the press office".
Some facts: The Green Green Grass of Home was announced by the RTE press office on the front of its weekly press information pack for Week 1, which was distributed to all media (including The Irish Times) before Christmas. Your regular television preview writer, Hugh Linehan, was made aware of the series in mid-December and had a lengthy feature in The Irish Times of Friday, December 31st.
The photo-call was set up simply to afford journalists the opportunity to meet some of the stars; its date was dictated by their earliest availability. - Yours, etc.,
Kevin Healy, Director of Public Affairs, Radio Telefis Eireann, Dublin 4.