Pat Kenny is doing a "very good job" as host of The Late, Late Show, and the press should leave him and RTE alone, the managing director of television, Mr Joe Mulholland, has said.
Speaking at the announcement of the filming of the Beckett canon, he said the current spate of criticism of Mr Kenny in particular and the channel in general was hysterical and damaging morale.
It was "early days" for The Late, Late Show with Pat Kenny at the helm, he said, and people should let it develop before rushing to judgment.
He said people had become too focused on the "mistakes" RTE had made in its millennium broadcast and during its filming of the winter solstice at Newgrange. They should look at RTE in its entirety.
On New Year's Eve "we had difficulties at midnight because there was so little happening around the country," Mr Mulholland said. "Perhaps we should have foreseen that, but on the night, what could we do?"
