RTÉ fined €200k over ‘significant error’ in libel

RTÉ was fined €200,000 by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland for the controversial Prime Time Investigates programme, which seriously libelled Fr Kevin Reynolds in what the station described as “one of the most significant errors” in its history.

The BAI said the programme was in serious breach of the Broadcasting Act 2009.

It found the Mission to Prey programme was not fair as it had broadcast “serious, damaging and untrue” allegations about Fr Reynolds, despite his denials and the offer to undertake a paternity test in advance of the transmission. The BAI said the fact Fr Reynolds was a serving priest meant the impact of the false allegations on his reputation was “particularly severe.”

It criticised RTÉ’s use of secret filming and a doorstep interview of Fr Reynolds it found had unreasonably encroached on his privacy.

The BAI also found there was a significant failure of editorial and managerial controls within RTÉ in allowing the broadcast.

The findings were based on the report of BBC Northern Ireland controller Anna Carragher, appointed by the BAI after the Government ordered an inquiry into the controversy.

RTÉ acknowledged from the outset the material relating to Fr Reynolds in the programme should never have been broadcast.

RTÉ asked the BAI to take into account it had already changed its editorial system following the controversy, and had accepted recommendations of a separate inquiry by Press Ombudsman John Horgan.

It also pointed out it had scrapped the Prime Time Investigates series and paid compensation and apologised to Fr Reynolds as a result of a High Court action.

However, the BAI expressed regret that RTÉ refused to waive its right to the station’s claim of solicitor/client privilege in relation to contacts between the programme makers and its legal team.

Such a decision prevented Ms Carragher from examining any legal advice which was offered to the Prime Time Investigates team in the pre-transmission stages.

The four RTÉ staff at the centre of the controversy — reporter Aoife Kavanagh, producer Mark Lappin, executive producer Brian Páircéir and current affairs editor Ken O’Shea — all expressed deep regret for the defamation of Fr Reynolds.

However, they disagreed with some aspects of Ms Carragher’s report and expressed concern she had not sought to interview anyone from RTÉ’s legal affairs department or a Kenyan journalist who had assisted in research for the programme.

Some of the journalists insisted the RTÉ lawyers had been involved in the decision-making process at all appropriate stages, contrary to Ms Carragher’s findings.