RTÉ bosses to step aside during Reynolds investigation

TWO of the most senior bosses in RTÉ news and current affairs are to step aside while a public inquiry investigates how the state broadcaster incorrectly accused a County Galway priest of raping an African woman and fathering a child with her.

The station also announced that Prime Time executive producer Brian Páircéir and reporter Aoife Kavanagh will not be involved in on-air programming for the next two months.

The move follows the decision of Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte to order a Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) inquiry into how Fr Kevin Reynolds’ defamation was allowed to take place on a Prime Time Investigates programme entitled Mission to Prey.