RTE was inundated with callers yesterday expressing their support for Mr Denis Riordan.
The switchboard of Radio One's Liveline programme was jammed for a period, with some members of the public pledging donations to the Limerick lecturer, whose challenge to the appointment of Mr Hugh O'Flaherty as vice-president of the European Investment Bank was yesterday rejected by the High Court.
Mr Riordan has said he is planning to take the case to the Supreme Court and the European Court, if necessary.
Callers also criticised what they felt was unduly harsh treatment of Mr Riordan in an interview with RTE journalist Una Claffey on the News at One programme. But an RTE spokesman said that while the interview was "searching and perhaps tough", it did not go beyond the bounds of what would be expected on a programme of this kind. He added "Una Claffey is a professional journalist and she asked the questions she had to ask."
Liveline presenter Joe Duffy said the discussion on Mr Riordan produced one of the strongest responses the programme has had, with an overwhelming majority of callers supporting Mr Riordan's legal action.
"We had one critical caller on air in the interests of balance, but otherwise he attracted massive support. We could have gone on for another hour. Our phones were overloaded and the Radio Centre reception took a lot of calls too," he said.
There had been both phone calls and e-mails pledging money to help defray the lecturer's costs, Mr Duffy said, adding: "He seems to have tapped into something quite deep. People were comparing him with Don Quixote, and the star in the east and what not. If I was Denis Riordan, I'd run for election."
