RTÉ head: Debate did not decide presidency

The head of RTÉ has insisted it is impossible to say if a controversial debate on The Frontline had decided the outcome of last year’s presidential election won by Michael D Higgins.

RTÉ director general Noel Curran said yesterday he did not know how anybody could say the programme decided the election. It is a view that directly contradicts recent remarks by the station’s news and current affairs editor, David Nally, who said he accepted the programme had changed the outcome of the presidential race.

The Frontline debate hosted by Pat Kenny on Oct 24, 2011, broadcast details of a bogus tweet which claimed Sinn Féin would hold a press conference the following day with a person who had given a €5,000 fundraising cheque for Fianna Fáil to Seán Gallagher.