Kenny’s Prendeville question ‘justified’

A COMPLAINT accusing RTÉ presenter Pat Kenny of trivialising the Neil Prendeville sex act incident was not upheld by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).

In the complaint, Lucy Keaveney said she was shocked to hear the presenter ask a spokesman for Mr Prendeville, barrister Gerald Kean, if he believed the incident should end up in court “as on the one hand nobody had died; everyone present was adult and lots of people have been subjected to that kind of exposure from time to time”.

The radio interview took place last November after it emerged that Mr Prendeville performed a lewd act while on a flight from London to Cork. The incident was witnessed by another passenger and two air hostesses.

The BAI found that while Mr Kenny’s comments “could have been better phrased” he had asked a legitimate question. They said the question was “editorially justified and in the public interest”.

The watchdog also stated that the “seriousness of the incident was presented by Irish Examiner journalist Eoin English” who was also contributing to this segment of the show. They said Mr Kenny’s comments were aimed at “moving the incident forward to a possible court case” and deciphering whether Mr Kean thought this was ‘appropriate’

The BAI did not believe that Mr Kenny’s comments “could reasonably be expected to prejudice respect for human dignity”.

Ms Keaveney said Mr Kenny’s comment and the manner in which it was said “trivialised this very serious incident”. She described Mr Prendeville’s act as a “sexual crime” and said “if there was a female view sought; this comment would have been rebuffed immediately”.