Minister an 'absolute disgrace' for suggesting RTÉ’s fuel protests coverage was 'lopsided', say TDs

One politician said that people were 'talked down to instead of talked to' during the fuel protests

One TD said Patrick O'Donovan (pictured) 'divides opinion everywhere'. File photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile

There is growing anger in Fine Gael towards media minister Patrick O’Donovan after he suggested RTÉ should be investigated by the media regulator following the fuel protests.

One member of the Fine Gael parliamentary party branded him an “absolute disgrace”, while another warned that Tánaiste and party leader Simon Harris should distance himself from the Limerick County TD.

Mr O’Donovan told several local radio stations on Monday that he would ask Coimisiún na Meán to investigate whether RTÉ’s coverage of the protests had been “lopsided”.

The minister met with the Commission on Tuesday and later said he was no longer seeking a review. The Tánaiste had dismissed the suggestion several hours previously.

The comments caused uproar in Fine Gael, with one party member telling the Irish Examiner that Mr O’Donovan was an “absolute disgrace” and an “embarrassment”.

Another TD said they believed Mr Harris had not been damaged in the eyes of many Fine Gaelers after last week’s protests but warned that he could be if he did not distance himself from Mr O’Donovan.

They added: 

People would worry for Simon that Patrick may become a contagion for him.

When asked about the reaction of the parliamentary party to Mr O’Donovan’s comments, several members said that “Patrick is Patrick”.

“He divides opinion everywhere, and he'll make no apologies for that,” one TD said.

Another added: “He's a very, very good minister but, I think in this case, he got it completely and utterly wrong, and it added fuel to fire.”

Senior sources told the Irish Examiner that Mr O’Donovan was frustrated with some media broadcast coverage and that, privately, some people were agreeing with him but would not publicly back him.

'Wrong' communications

One TD said that while Mr O’Donovan’s comments were poor, justice minister Jim O’Callaghan also made a communications blunder following his comments about calling in the Defence Forces in response to the protests.

Fine Gael TDs were critical of how the Government managed the protests, repeatedly saying that all communications were “wrong”.

One politician said that people were “talked down to instead of talked to” and that a situation like last week cannot be allowed to happen again.

Several politicians suggested the Tánaiste “wasn’t the worst of the three” Government leaders, with one suggesting that he had performed better than Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

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New TDs told the Irish Examiner that the last week was a “baptism of fire”, with several who had local authority experience calling it the “worst five or six days of my life”.

“I’ve never come under pressure like this before,” one TD admitted. “I understand and I respect it, but don't block [infrastructure].

“But I got hammered over that, and I could understand that as well. People are angry, they're angry.

“We as backbenchers got stick because the leaders of the Government were arrogant. We just handled it wrong.”

Fine Gael TDs and senators told the Irish Examiner, however, that the level of discontent within their party was not as bad as within Fianna Fáil.

• Louise Burne is an Irish Examiner political correspondent