Civil servants are an invaluable source of information

An unhealthy culture of secrecy surrounds our civil servants despite the fact they are a valuable source of historical information, writes Ryle Dwyer

SOME families of those portrayed in the Charlie series on RTÉ have been upset by the depictions of their loved ones. Whether those depictions are fair or not may be open to question, because an unhealthy culture of secrecy surrounding the civil servants has been facilitated, even encouraged.

The series was intended as a drama, not an historical documentary. As with the Michael Collins movie, the producers have taken a certain amount of dramatic licence.