Neil Prendeville accuses mentalist Keith Barry of bullying

Broadcaster Neil Prendeville has hit out at mentalist Keith Barry, accusing him of online bullying and urging him to apologise to radio station staff.

The Cork DJ spent 15 minutes on his RedFM talk show yesterday delivering a robust defence of a last-minute decision to cancel an interview with Barry last Friday following his appearance on rival Cork station, 96FM, the previous hour.

Prendeville slated the award-winning mentalist for his behaviour at the RedFM studios, accusing Barry of intimidating staff, and for his comments on Twitter and Facebook later in the day, when Barry said he would urge his celebrity friends to boycott Prendeville’s show.

Prendeville told listeners Barry shouted at a receptionist — who Prendeville said felt intimidated — and said: ‘If I don’t get on the air, I’m going to annihilate you all on Twitter — the shit is going to hit the fan on Twitter.”

“Keith Barry — if you’re listening, you should pick up the phone and be man enough to apologise to her,” said Prendeville. “What did she ever do to him?”

The broadcaster criticised Barry’s comments on Twitter afterwards, and his Facebook post later.

“To threaten someone with Twitter or to engage in Twitter or Facebook attacks — this is bullying, lads, this is bullying pure and simple,” Prendeville said.

“I have chosen not to live in this parallel world. The events, actions, and words over the weekend have convinced me how right I am. It’s been annihilating.

“To encourage artists to boycott me, to actively contact them to encourage his Twitter and Facebook followers not to listen online — this is online bullying and that is wrong.

“I’ve spoken over the last few years to people who’ve been subjected to the most horrific online abuse, and they’ve been driven to depression and suicidal thoughts.”

Prendeville said he and his team agreed some time ago to have Barry on the show last Friday, without knowing he was booked for a similar show with their rivals earlier that day.

“There was never a mention by the PR company that he [Barry] was going to be doing the same style interview, the same format an hour beforehand on the same morning on 96fm,” Prendeville said.

“Had I known — and I’m not the mind reader so I didn’t know this — I would have said words to the effect of ‘pick one radio station for that morning, do the other one at a later date or time’, and left it at that.

“I don’t mind which one you want to do but it’s a nonsense, it’s silly to do the two in the one hour.”

Prendeville said his production team contacted Barry’s PR company to cancel the slot after learning about his appearance on 96FM.

“We gave them plenty of notice, but he still arrived here,” Prendeville said.

“He gave a false name to gain access. He was a very, very, angry man here and he repeatedly refused to give his car reg number for security clearance.

“He wasn’t angry with me, but he was angry with staff here. A young girl who felt threatened had no idea who he was or what was going on. She was left very upset and shaken. She didn’t deserve to be treated like that.”

Prendeville rejected Barry’s description of him as a prima donna and said: “I’ve had my fall to earth, with a big, big, bang — it was a bang that nearly killed me. I lost my job, I lost my income, I put my family through hell and torture, I caused immense upset to family and friends.

“I have tried to change my life for the better and the compassion, and the kindness of people in general, and Cork people in particular, I believe that is the closest thing I will witness to a miracle.”

Despite the criticism, he urged people to support Barry, to buy tickets for his shows and buy his DVDs.

Keith Barry was not available for comment.