Sir, – Contrary to what RTÉ has been broadcasting recently, FM is not widely available in the north of Ireland and there is no digital signal here either.
I was amused to hear on the radio that RTÉ will travel to the “UK” to see what the problems are. What they mean is they will travel to Britain. What about those of us on the island of Ireland who will not be able to receive RTÉ without considerable financial outlay?
This issue is one that our politicians on both sides of the Border should be resolving and not RTÉ alone. – Yours, etc,
MARGA FOLEY,
Belfast.
Sir, – Depriving thousands of Irish people at home and, more importantly, abroad of this much-loved service will save a quarter of a million euro. RTÉ employs individuals working part-time for more than that amount. Who proposed this blunder? – Yours, etc,
HARRY MULHERN,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – I write as the son of parents who left Ireland in the 1950s and started a new life in Birmingham and for whom the radio from home was hugely important – a way of keeping in touch, whether that was through news, music or sport. I recall many happy hours spent with my late father listening to GAA matches on a Sunday afternoon either in the comfort of our home or in the company of like-minded people gathered together in parks or on the touchline at GAA matches played in Birmingham. My continuing love of Gaelic sport was fired by those transmissions and has caused me to travel to Croke Park on many occasions. My mother still listens to RTÉ, falling into silence at the Angelus bell and tapping her feet to Céilí House. Simple pleasures that will be lost to her and many others. It is to RTÉ's shame that the longwave transmission is to cease with no readily accessible replacement. It is a case out of sight, out of sound! – Yours, etc,
KEVIN REILLY,
Hall Green,
Birmingham.
Sir, – Surely now is the perfect opportunity for RTÉ to introduce the digital radio (DAB) service, currently available in just three regions in Ireland (Cork, Limerick and the greater Dublin area) to the entire country?
In the meantime, my digital radio remains as useful as an e-voting machine or a postcode here in the Kingdom. – Yours, etc,
TOMÁS FINNERAN,
Tralee,
Co Kerry.