Madam, - The letter of September 22nd from David Sowby reminded me of the irritation I used to feel when Michelle de Bruin was in the news. RTÉ constantly pronounced Bruin as "broon" while anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of Dutch knows it should be pronounced "brown".
The BBC produces a book for newsreaders explaining how difficult names of people and places are pronounced. Clearly RTÉ has never aspired to such accuracy.
On the subject of RTÉ foreign correspondents I can relate that almost 20 years ago I applied for such a post. Having called the advertised telephone number I explained that I spoke seven languages and had some knowledge of seven more. The only question I was asked was, "Do you speak Irish?". After a stunned silence I could only reply: "I thought you wanted a foreign correspondent and no, I only speak modern languages". - Yours, etc,
IAN KAVANAGH,
Suir Road,
Dublin 8.
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A chara, - David Sowby tells us (September 22nd) that Schröder rhymes with murder. Could he tell us what Sowby rhymes with? - Is mise,
LOMAN LOINGSIGH,
Ellensborough Drive,
Dublin 24.