Sir, – As the All-Ireland Gaelic football final approaches, can I appeal to the powers-that-be in our national broadcaster to arrest the spread of the noxious term TIE-rone. As a proud Ulsterman, I can state that I have never heard anyone from the province refer to the county in this fashion.
The term TIE-rone seems to have originated in the RTÉ sports department but now it has crept into the newsroom and is spreading like bindweed throughout the organisation. I have even heard the estimable Miriam O’Callaghan use the word.
Surely there are enough barriers between North and South without inventing new ones? Tyrone is pronounced with a soft Y as befits the Gaelic origin of the name, Tír Eoghain – the land of Eoghan. RTÉ editors, please note. – Yours, etc,
EUGENE McELDOWNEY,
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Howth,
Dublin 13.