Whatever happened to Irish Pictorial Weekly?

By my estimation the RTÉ programme, Irish Pictorial Weekly, lasted some three to four weeks.

This programme, based on Hall’s Pictorial Weekly, took a sarcastic, funny and sometimes malicious poke at our elite, both at home and abroad. Was it axed for doing so? Did our masters in government and in the Dáil decide that the programme demeaned politics and force RTÉ to drop it? Did our masters, masters in Germany force Enda to axe it?

Perhaps the axing of this side-swiping and extremely funny programme became a part of a deal on debt sustainability? Maybe, Mr Rabbitte (Minister for Communications), who recently savaged the media for reducing politics to a farce, decided enough is enough and ordered RTÉ to axe the show?

Maybe I’m being paranoid? Maybe only four shows were made? I sincerely hope that I am paranoid and that all of the above is untrue, because, if not, we have a problem with democracy here in the Republic of Ireland.

Then again do we have a democratic republic? Perhaps I should stay paranoid!

Denis Moloney

Macroom

Co Cork