BRENDAN M. REDMOND,
Madam, - Kevin Myers's Irishman's Diary of January 10th on the farce of trying to revive the Irish language coincided with my own thoughts on the subject.
I switched on the radio the other evening at around 8pm. On RTÉ Radio 1 three people were holding a discussion in Irish. It sounded like a pleasant fireside chat and I got to thinking that the only people listening to it were themselves! This was the national radio station and here was a programme for a tiny minority being broadcast at peak time. Other radio listeners would have long switched to the wider choice now available on other stations.
Lest I be accused of denying Gaelgeoirí access to the airwaves I would have to ask: is this not what Raidió na Gaeltachta was set up for? It is exclusively their station. We also have Cinnlínte na Nuachta at different times through the day on Radio 1.
Why? Is it to allow Gaelgeoirí to hear the news in Irish before they continue listening to the main programme in English? Would they suffer withdrawal symptoms if they did not get their regular fix of Irish throughout the day? Would they forget how to speak it if they didn't?
We have the same situation on television. Interesting as they may be, programmes in Irish with English subtitles should be broadcast where they rightfully belong, on TG4. Like R na G it was set up for Irish speakers and cost taxpayers a lot of money.
The whole thing suggests a fair degree of hypocrisy within RTÉ. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN M. REDMOND,
Hazelbrook Road,
Terenure,
Dublin 6w.