Prime Time fallout an avoidable farce

THE botched handling of Prime Time Investigates programme which libelled Fr Kevin Reynolds could provide the ingredients for a Shakespearean tragi-comedy were its fallout not so serious.

However, the subsequent efforts by RTÉ, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and the Government to examine the background to the A Mission to Prey have turned the drama into something else . . . a farce.

While there might have been a feeling that the publication of the BAI’s report on the programme last week would have allowed dust to settle on the matter, it has gone on to highlight not only further inadequacies on the part of RTÉ, but the BAI itself. It has also raised questions about the adequacy of existing legislation to investigate breaches by broadcasters of the need for fair programming and respecting the privacy of individuals.