Just over a week after the director of the Arts Council made a powerful argument for recognition of the role of the arts in our society, the national broadcaster decided to drop its flagship arts programme Rattlebag. Regrettably, in the wake of the announcement, the Arts Council has been slow to react and did not immediately make a statement of support for the arts community and its audience.
The demise of the programme, along with the decision to remove from the air John Kelly's long-established Mystery Train, signals a move away from the kind of specialist and inclusive programming that, hitherto, has been one of the hallmarks of public service radio. While neither programme may have achieved the widest popular appeal, they served constituencies that should not be ignored by a station supported by licence-fee money.
The shake-up in the schedule, and the reshuffle of radio personalities, planned for the autumn is clearly indicative of a new mindset in management. No doubt, falling listenership figures and tougher personality-driven competition from the independents stiffened resolve to implement change. Initial reaction among staff suggested concern about lack of consultation; there should also be concern about the loss of programmes that added something distinctive to the programming mix.
John Kelly's Mystery Train established itself as a quirky outlet for non-mainstream music, which does not get a look-in on programmes that never deviate from bland music formats. It appealed to eclectic tastes: one of the virtues of RTÉ Radio 1, the mainstay of our national service, has been that it always embraced a broad church.
Rattlebag played an important role in keeping its listeners informed on the arts, and also in providing discussion and evaluation of the very diverse cultural life that now exists throughout the country. Since the programme first came on the air as The Arts Show with Mike Murphy as its presenter, it has provided excellent coverage and pioneered an accessible approach to all art forms. The notion that the needs of Rattlebag listeners can be fulfilled in a late-night slot, or as a component of other programmes, says much about a broadcasting organisation that is fond of reminding us about how it is "supporting the arts".
If RTÉ Radio 1 is simply to ape the derisory slot for TV arts coverage - The View appears when most people are thinking about sleep - then the public can understandably come to the conclusion that this is a further step in marginalising cultural coverage by a national radio service that has still not replaced its arts correspondent two years after his departure from the station.