RTÉ has deferred a television documentary on the Moriarty tribunal, citing new rules on the broadcasting of programmes involving “political issues” during election campaigns.
Scannal, a two-part Irish-language programme presented by Cormac Ó hEadhra, did not air on Tuesday despite RTÉ promoting the scheduled showing at 7pm that evening on RTÉ One.
“The decision regarding the postponement of Scannal was made by RTÉ Broadcast Compliance following due diligence,” RTÉ said, citing election guidelines laid down by media regulators.
The presidential election campaign formally began on Wednesday when nominations closed ahead of polling day on October 24th. Although the first part of the Scannal programme was to be aired the evening before the campaign opened, the second part was due to be shown next Tuesday.
READ MORE
The Moriarty tribunal was established in 1997 to examine payments to the late Charles Haughey and Michael Lowry, now an Independent TD.
Mr Lowry, formerly a Fine Gael minister, is the leader of the group of eight Regional Independent TDs who support the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael coalition.
The 2011 final report of the tribunal found Mr Lowry “secured the winning” of the 1995 mobile phone licence competition for Denis O’Brien’s Esat Digifone when he was minister for communications.
The 2011 report said it was “beyond doubt” that Mr Lowry imparted “substantive information” to Mr O’Brien, which was “of significant value and assistance to him in securing the licence”. Mr Lowry and Mr O’Brien always rejected such findings.
[ Presidential election 2025 has smallest field of candidates in 35 yearsOpens in new window ]
Mr Lowry is not a minister. However, the Regional Independents have two super-junior Minister seats in the Cabinet and hold three Minister of State posts. Wexford TD Verona Murphy, another Regional Independent, is Ceann Comhairle.
Fianna Fáil’s presidential candidate is Jim Gavin, former Dublin GAA manager. Fine Gael’s candidate is former minister Heather Humphreys. The other candidate is Catherine Connolly, an Independent TD supported by Sinn Féin, Labour, the Social Democrats, People Before Profit and other leftists.
Asked why the Scannal programme did not air, RTÉ said it was obliged to adhere to election guidelines issued by Coimisiún na Meán, the media regulator.
“Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM) issued its updated guidelines on Monday, 15 September,” RTÉ said.
“As a matter of policy, and in adherence to the CnaM guidelines, RTÉ does due diligence on planned programmes prior to an election to identify programmes outside of our planned election coverage which involve political issues,” it added.
“If this arises, any such broadcast is deferred to an appropriate time.”
