Songwriters gather to debate RTE’s running of Eurovision

The plan was revealed by Johnny Lappin (pictured), of Foxrock Music Productions, who has already raised a series of questions in relation to the event, in an open letter to RTE.
“I have been persuaded to organize an open meeting of songwriters and other interested parties,” Lappin commented. “There is a huge amount of dissatisfaction within Ireland’s songwriting community, the media and the music industry in general about RTE’s handling of the event. The meeting will allow all attendee’s to air their views and to propose any further action that might be taken.”
Lappin told Hot Press that representatives of RTE and others involved, including Brian Kennedy, were being invited to the meeting. Jackie Hayden of Hot Press has agreed to chair the meeting as a neutral observer.
“I think it is important that everyone is given a fair hearing, and that there should be no pre-judgement,” Hayden commented. “The fact that people are unhappy doesn’t automatically mean that there was a problem with the way the event was run by RTE. That said, there is clearly a lot of unhappiness within the songwriting community, so it will be interesting to see what emerges at the meeting.”
The meeting, which is open to all songwriters and other interested parties, has been scheduled for the Holiday Inn Hotel, Pearse St, Dublin on Monday 3rd April 2006. It will kick off at 7.30pm.