RTÉ must ensure ‘no repeat of Gallagher tweet incident’

RTÉ must act quickly to ensure there is never a repeat of the Sean Gallagher tweet incident which electrified the presidential campaign, Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte warned.

The minister said Mr Gallagher had been treated unfairly by the network after the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland upheld a complaint from the independent candidate against RTÉ’s flagship Frontline programme.

The BAI ruled the programme had made “no apparent efforts” to verify the source and accuracy of a tweet it referred to during the presidential debate edition, which claimed Sinn Féin was to produce a man claiming he had given Gallagher funds to pass on to Fianna Fáil.