Letters

RTÉ can be saved and is worth saving

Building on what is already there

Mon Oct 16 2023 - 00:08

Sir, – Recent correspondents to these pages have fulminated against the governance structures in RTÉ and in so doing, as well as calling for a more truncated organisation, have taken a scattergun swipe at all of the staff and presenters of the organisation. While I can appreciate the frustration of the general public to the revelations of recent months, an hysterical and unbalanced reaction to these excesses is somewhat unfair.

I received my TV licence renewal notice this week and am gladly paying it. I am paying it for the thoughtful insights of John Bowman, for the humour and variety of John Creedon, for the eclecticism of John Kelly. I am paying it for Morning Ireland, for Prime Time and for Drivetime, among other programmes. I am paying it for Lyric FM and the range of shows which entertain and engage me. I am paying it for one of the world’s top radio documentary makers, as evidenced by the awards garnered over the years at prestigious festivals.

For this, I will pay less than 44 cent per day.

RTÉ has over the years developed as a broadcaster with a great international reputation. If there has been corporate slippage in recent years, then the process of realigning its compass has thankfully begun.

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Jettisoning the expertise and capabilities of the organisation as a knee-jerk reaction to its current difficulties would undervalue the contribution of generations of staff members who have built it since its establishment.

RTÉ can be fixed, not by tearing it down, but by building on what is already there. – Yours, etc,

FRANK WALSH,

Coolballow,

Wexford.

Sir, – I just hope that the regular staff at RTÉ do not end up carrying the can for poor governance and the refusal of many governments to grasp the nettle of how to fund public broadcasting. They, and us, deserve better. – Yours, etc,

PATRICIA O’RIORDAN,

Dublin 8.