Sir, – I agree completely with Justine McCarthy’s sentiments about the Rose of Tralee (“Pull the plug now on the antediluvian Rose of Tralee”, Opinion & Analysis, August 18th).
RTÉ should inform the public about the costs incurred by the station in running this annual extravaganza.
It is the least we deserve to have to endure such a “light entertainment” show year after year! – Yours, etc,
TADHG McCARTHY,
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Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Justine McCarthy may be upset that RTÉ still screens the Rose of Tralee but given its exceedingly high female viewership, which contributes to it being one of the most watched shows on TV, then surely she is seeking to deny the majority female viewers this annual spectacle?
I, like many others in the country, will watch something else on the many hundreds of channels and streaming services, pay my TV licence, and studiously continue to ignore a show that fails to offend the hundreds of thousands of female viewers who continue to watch it. – Yours, etc,
RORY J WHELAN,
Drogheda,
Co Meath.
Sir, – As a native of Tralee who grew up with the event, and whose first cousin Alice O’Sullivan was the first Rose of Tralee in 1959, I naturally have a deep-seated affection for the competition and all its works. In her call to RTÉ “to pull the plug” on the entire business, Justine McCarthy puts forward a number of amusing arguments, some of which may even be valid, but sadly misses a few vital points.
Back in the late 1950s, at a time of widespread poverty, high unemployment, mass emigration and economic stagnation, a group of dedicated local volunteers met in Harty’s Bar on Castle Street, Tralee, determined to take out of the doldrums their town whose population had hardly grown since the Great Famine. With ambition, drive and energy, they succeeded.
Over 60 years later their efforts in Tralee remain as an outstanding example of how local initiative can trigger an enduring dynamic.
Since its inception, nobody has been press-ganged into taking part in the competition or watching it, either live in the Dome or on television.
Year after year RTÉ achieves its highest audience ratings with The Rose of Tralee and the viewers enjoy themselves immensely in the process.
This popularity is concrete acknowledgement of the fact that down the decades The Rose of Tralee has firmly established itself as a treasured keystone of the national heritage for which the island of Ireland, and the diaspora beyond the seas, should be eternally grateful. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN O’SULLIVAN,
Paris.