Let’s all hope RTÉ comes back stronger to serve the public interest

THE country needs an editorially strong RTÉ but the self-inflicted wound caused by the dreadful libel against catholic priest Father Kevin Reynolds has the potential to seriously injury the station’s future ability to delivery strong and original current affairs material to suit the public interest.

Already the next series of Primetime Investigates has been delayed, to date as yet unknown, and the fear must be that other programmes may be tempted, consciously or not, to pull their punches in case they get things wrong. The rich, powerful and criminal will be delighted by any neutering of RTÉ’s news and current affairs output.

There’s a degree of schadenfraude in the reaction of some people to the libel debacle at RTÉ. Media rivals should not engage in it, even if they are jealous of the licence fee provided resources that gives RTÉ a considerable advantage and are irked somewhat by the arrogance sometimes displayed by some RTÉ personnel who behave as if only they perform in the public interest. Those who have been the subject of legitimate journalistic inquiry by the station, including others in the Catholic Church and politicians, may be delighted to see RTÉ hoist by its own petard but should be reminded that the reporting of RTÉ in the majority of cases has been fair, accurate and essential. There have been many more successes than failures.