RTÉ should put accent on the real Ireland

HAVING paid enough for a TV licence, isn’t it about time the ordinary RTÉ viewer heard a voice that sounded familiar, or even real. I’m tired of some young woman speaking in her extraterrestrial ‘D4’ accent, jabbering on monotonously to some imaginary viewer from ‘Ballyneutral’ or ‘Castletownblandend’.

The only other discernible dialect to be heard occasionally on the ‘national’ broadcaster is from over the border.

Of course, as with everything, there are exceptions. Tomás Mulcahy, Pat Spillane, Cyril Farrell and others are to be heard analysing GAA games in authentic accents on summer Sunday evenings, but this is only one strand of programming.