Madam, - While I personally have no time for George Bush or his policies, I was outraged by the typical RTÉ interrogation tactics of Carol Coleman in her recent "interview" of the president. Good manners alone would surely dictate that when you ask someone a question, you allow him to answer however he wishes. If he prevaricates, or is obviously waffling (not unknown among Irish politicians), then he can be challenged when finished. The constant rude interruptions, hectoring and barracking so beloved of RTÉ political correspondents on such programmes as Prime Time and Morning Ireland are the reasons I rarely watch or listen to such programmes any longer.
Morning Ireland in particular is a joke. In an attempt to stuff as much as possible into the allotted time, interviewees are invariably rushed, bullied into saying things the interviewer wants to hear, and cut short if they don't comply. When one realises that current affairs reporting in RTÉ was controlled by Marxist (now Unionist) gurus like Eoghan Harris for so long during critical historical periods, this of course is no surprise. This is public service broadcasting? We are ill served, madam, for our hefty licence fees. -Yours, etc.,
DON MULLINS, Dun na Ri, Ballycarney, Green Road, Carlow.
Madam, - Having seen Carol Coleman's interview with President Bush aired on RTÉ on Thursday night, I was astounded and outraged by the actions of the Irish Government in supporting the Administration's objections to the interview.
For sure, it was a spiky interview and I felt a twinge of sympathy for President Bush as I watched it as he was clearly unused to such treatment, and frankly appeared rattled by the pressure to think on his feet and communicate something other than his rehearsed answers.
However, Ms Coleman merely performed the job that any professional journalist interviewing a man of such enormous responsibility should perform. She pushed hard for meaningful explanations and opinions, and remained courteous.
Leaving aside the foibles of the man, the Administration and the American press culture, the real outrage is in the sycophantic support of the Irish Government for the Bush Administration's control-freakish objections.
The Bertie Administration understands perfectly well the accepted culture and mechanisms of Irish journalism and in standing against this interview the Government has obsequiously stood up and proclaimed support for media control and propaganda. Top marks for kissing up to the big boys, nul points for moral fibre. - Yours, etc.,
PATRICK TREACY, Cloyne, Co. Cork.
Madam, - Carol bushwhacked George! - Yours, etc.,
KEITH NOLAN, Caldra House, Caldragh, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co Leitrim.