Betty Purcell - A woman on a mission

When Betty Purcell was just two-and-a-half years old, her mother placed her in an orphanage.

She almost ended up in Goldenbridge, but fortunately someone warned her mother that bad things were happening there; so she was placed in St Joseph’s, along with her sister, where the nuns were kind. She was there for two and a half years. Her mother had brought here there “for a while” so she could organise her life, after separating from Betty’s father. Was Betty damaged by the experience?

“I suffered the deprivation of being away from home,” she says. “There was nobody hugging me on a daily basis, but I learned things there. The nuns taught me gardening and I played the cymbals in the school orchestra, and Baby Jesus in a play.”

She has never blamed her mother.

“My mother came to see us every week so contact was maintained. I never felt abandoned. She always said, ‘you will be coming home soon.’”

We’ve met to discuss Betty’s memoir chronicling her 33 years as a radio and TV producer. She has won awards, but has also courted controversy — clashing with the Government, RTÉ management, and the Worker’s Party as a union representative — and fought against censorship. She took a landmark case against Section 31 to Europe, which she lost.

It is clear that Betty got her fighting spirit, her political acumen and her sense of justice from her mother; who worked hard to bring up her three children on her own.

“She said we must always speak the truth and hold on to our beliefs. She was a great trade unionist, and she fought for women having equality, long before it was fashionable.”

Why, though, was Betty so against the ban on broadcasting members of Sinn Féin?

“I considered Section 31 to be political censorship. It might have been workable without the more ludicrous aspects, like not being able to cover industrial disputes and fires if the only witness was a member of Sinn Féin.

“But with Section 31 in place, the North wasn’t fairly represented. Whenever I was there, I found that people felt abandoned by the South. That led to a siege mentality, and an unhealthy political atmosphere with two separate societies who had nothing to say to each other. Conversation was needed for the peace process.”

She had a varied career in RTÉ. But when, in 2001, she got the job of producer on The Late Late Show she wasn’t altogether happy.

“It was a career move, but lifestyle wasn’t my natural home.”

She only lasted one season. She brought in journalist Susan McKay, at short notice, to provide balance on an item about child abuse, and Pat Kenny, taking an unexpected angle, came down hard on McKay.

“I was absolutely furious and heartbroken. It was difficult to come back from. Clare Duignan persuaded me to finish the season, but a relationship of trust between a presenter and a producer is absolutely essential, and the amount of warmth between us had definitely lessened.”

Betty recently worked on The View, and its rebrand The Works.

“I love the arts,” she says. “I was married to a playwright and one of my two daughters is in theatre.”

But being a political animal, she adored working on programmes like the controversial Women Today, and Questions and Answers.

“John Bowman is one of those rare human beings full of wisdom and kindness; in the 11 years we did great things, including the child abuse scandal.

“But my favourite programme was Would You Believe. We were really committed to making a difference and to illustrate what human beings are capable of. I remember the programme on Maurice Neligan, who lost one of his daughters. He was a beautiful man, so dedicated to reforming the health service.”

It takes softness and sensitivity to produce such programmes, yet on union matters, Betty was a firebrand. She argues that RTÉ is a lesser place now that union power has diminished.

“It’s terrible. Long-term contracts have been replaced with people there for six or nine months with no holiday rights. It’s hard to operate unless you feel secure. You can’t say ‘this is an important story, I think we should cover it,’ if you are afraid of alienating someone in authority. You need unions to stand up for you.”

Betty doesn’t believe commercial stations are bad for RTÉ.

“They can live side by side. RTÉ will always be the public service broadcaster, but there’s a threat to all media of dumbing down and starvation of resources.”

In January, the book finished, and wondering whether to wash the kitchen floor, Betty realised retirement wasn’t for her. She has followed Pat Kenny into the commercial sector, and is working at TV3 with Vincent Browne.

“I have a lot of excitement about the future,” she says.

Inside RTÉ a memoir, by Betty Purcell is published today by New Island at €19.99; Kindle: €7.43.