Sir, – Ultan Ó Broin (Letters, January 19th) may have had his tongue firmly in his cheek in calling for Ireland to follow the British government's action in abolishing the BBC licence fee in 2027 and freezing funding for two years. It should be noted that this is the desperate action of an increasingly right-wing government to intimidate and suppress an independent news organisation holding it to account. Any similar proposal regarding RTÉ must be resisted! – Yours, etc,
BILL O’BRIEN,
Dublin 3.
Sir, – Ultan Ó Broin might not agree with the common view that the push for BBC licence fee abolition is part of a wider political campaign to downgrade the corporation to a paid service, thus depriving many of the breadth and depth of its content. This political interference also endangers the very range and quality of programming, due to costs.
We do not need a diminution of the service offered here.
Of course, were Mr Ó Broin in my shoes, he would be looking forward to a payment-free service within months, after a waiting period that has flown, just 70 years. – Yours, etc,
MONICA NOLAN,
Knocklyon,
Dublin 16.