Now Irish animation companies are demanding that RTE, which gets half its revenue from the licence fee, invest in home-produced cartoons instead of spending all its money on American and Japanese-made rivals.

RTE has just bought Tutenstein, an Emmy-winning cartoon co-produced by Telegael in Galway, from a foreign distributor. The station was asked to invest in the project at a time when the co-producers were struggling to raise finance. But Telegael had to sell Irish rights to the series to Buena Vista International Television in order to get the cartoon financed.

The makers of another series, The Island of Inis Cool, also tried to get RTE backing, but only funding from TG4 made the project possible. Featuring the voices of Pauline McLynn and Hector O hEochagain, it has now been sold to several countries — including Germany, South Africa and Holland — and is being translated into Finnish and Estonian.

“Animation producers just forget about Ireland and work internationally,” said Gerard O’Rourke, chair of the Screen Producers of Ireland (SPI) animation committee. “We will always just go straight to the BBC, ITV, Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon.”

O’Rourke’s company, Monster Animation, is currently making Roobarb and Custard Too for Channel 5 and The Cartoon Network. “We just don’t go (to RTE),” he said.

Cathal Gaffney, of Brown Bag Films, one of two Irish companies to have been nominated for Academy Awards, said he was “worn out” going to RTE with projects and getting rejections. A new animation series that the group launched at a television market in Cannes has had interest from 41 international broadcasters.

“I haven’t even bothered pitching it to RTE,” said Gaffney, who was nominated for best short animation for Give Up Yer Aul Sins. Brown Bag is currently in production on a prime-time show for Warner Brothers in America, entitled The Drew Carey Green Screen Show.

The Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny is making Skunk Fu! for the BBC and Super RTL in Germany, as well as Swedish and French television. RTE did offer to pre-buy the series but the sum was too low to finance it. TG4 offered more than twice the amount when approached.

The Cartoon Saloon has approached RTE on a number of occasions about supporting a feature film, Brendan and the Secret of Kells, but got no response. “It’s about the Book of Kells, a national treasure, and we haven’t been able to make any headway with RTE in funding or discussions about it,” said Paul Young. “We are hoping to get a positive response.”

Although it has limited resources, TG4 has been more supportive of Irish animation. “We find TG4 excellent; they are very approachable and can give you a decision very quickly,” said Paul Cummins of Telegael. “It is so hard to get a response or even an acknowledgment from RTE.”

Producing animation is costly — about €20,000 per minute, or between €6m and €8m per series, according to Ralph Christians, of Magma, which has made several cartoon series for the international market. Norman Normal, co-financed by France 2, France 3, and Super RTL in Germany, has sold to 45 countries. It was broadcast in Ireland on TG4.

Because cartoons are so expensive, a “jigsaw” of finance from several different territories is needed. Having backing from RTE before going to other broadcasters would make it much easier, say animators. RTE could also make money from international sales if it funded animation at the outset, they argue.

RTE defended its animation output. “It wouldn’t be appropriate for us to be major investors in animation as it is extremely expensive,” the station said. “It also wouldn’t be appropriate for RTE to get involved in industry development as we are broadcasters.”

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