Crown demands to know why he was axed

CONSULTANT oncologist Prof John Crown still believes there could have been political interference in last Friday night’s Late Late Show discussion on health issues despite RTÉ insisting “no outside influences” were involved in the decision to drop him from the panel.

“It is plausible that there was political interference but I have no evidence that there was,” he said yesterday.

He claimed there had been a telephone call between RTÉ and the office of the Health Minister Mary Harney, one hour before he was told he would not be appearing on the show. Ms Harney’s spokesman denied there had been contact between her office and RTÉ regarding the panel line-up.