Yates escapes censure over rugby comment

THE broadcasting authority has decided not to cite Ivan Yates for remarking on air that Irish and Welsh rugby supporters share a hatred of the English. The remark was made on the Newstalk 106-108fm breakfast show prior to the Six Nations game between Ireland and Wales.

Co-presenter of the show Claire Byrne remarked that the Welsh were “the wildest” of the Six Nations rugby visitors and her colleague Ivan Yates went on to say he had business interests in Wales, that he liked the Welsh, and that “of course we share a passionate hatred of the English”.

An Englishman living in Ireland, J Amos, complained to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Mr Amos stated he found the remark “upsetting and offensive as well as being deeply disturbing that a broadcaster should express racist comments so blatantly on air”.

With his comments about business interests in Wales, Mr Yates had taken the context away from sport, the complainant stated.

Newstalk 106-108fm argued that the comments were made in jest during a light-hearted discussion on rugby and considered it inappropriate to suggest the comments were “racist”.

The BAI, in a ruling issued yesterday, said “it would not be reasonable to infer the comment was anything more than sporting parlance” and the complaint was rejected.

A complaint made by M Griffin over an RTÉ One Prime Time programme on the Community National School model was upheld. It had “presented factually incorrect information, demonstrated a strong bias against this particular school model and seriously misrepresented the religious education programme being developed for the schools”.

A programme on 3e about “the body parts people love and hate” was the subject of a complaint from P Sheeran.

On My Secret Body there were full frontal images of five men sitting in a sauna, during which they graphically discussed with each other sexual acts which they enjoyed being performed on themselves. The programme then moved on to the girls naked in the sauna.

Ms Sheeran complained the timing of the programme at 9pm “shows the broadcaster did not take due care of its audience, a sizeable portion of whom were children.

The complaints committee accepted that such a programme would not appeal to all viewers, but “the broadcaster exercised due care with the scheduling of the broadcast.

Further, the committee found there was no material in the broadcast which could be considered unduly offensive or harmful and/or sexually explicit as submitted by the complainant.”