A chara, – Though the next budget may be some way off in October, I would like to suggest at least one way the Government could do something for the long-suffering masses, and it wouldn’t cost them a penny – repeal the TV and radio licence fee, and let RTÉ fund itself however it wishes, in an open market where it already has a good headstart. That would put €160 annually back in the pocket of every honest licence-payer in the State. It would also end the situation where anyone who wants to watch any television is obliged to pay a heavy subsidy towards a station they may never watch; and whose money may be used against them and their private views as citizens, as RTÉ pursues its own agendas.
If we were all still paying tithes to the Church of Ireland, despite not availing of its services, or obliged to subsidise a state newspaper, there would be uproar. Yet we are in much the same situation regarding the relic that is RTÉ. The tithes were finally abolished in 1869. Perhaps someone could start a campaign to liberate RTÉ and end its dependence on our pockets. – Is mise,
NICOLAS O’FOGHLIU,
Carrigaline,
Co Cork.