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.

I fear they too could be shown a red card should someone come along with a knowledge of GAA and a ‘neutral’ tone.

Does RTÉ think punters can only understand fake ‘Dublin’ accents, or is it afraid denizens of the capital may not understand someone from ‘down da country’ and switch to another channel? Why can’t RTÉ draw talented presenters from all corners of the island? One only has to tune in to BBC or Channel 4 to hear a broad range of accents from England, Scotland and Wales.

When it comes to soaps, we have ‘residents’ of Carrickstown and Glenroe all speaking in the same tone.

One has to wonder how a bunch of coffee-swilling PC jockeys from the city can act or even sound remotely like farmers skulling pints in small town Ireland.

At least RTÉ got it right when they decided to show Pure Mule. We finally got to hear what Ireland is really like.

So let’s not only decentralise our civil servants but the Irish accent, too. Give anyone who visits the country an appreciation of the variety and complexity of our brogue.

We are known for the gift of the gab, not mono-sounding farmers from ‘Quork’ or ‘Kaven’ who enjoy the odd latte.

Denis O’Riordan

Woodland Drive

Millstreet

Co Cork