Raidió
Teilifís Éireann (RTE / Radio Television of Ireland) is the National public
service media of Ireland, a semi-State media company (since 1926), overseen by
a board appointed by the Government and regulated by the Broadcasting Authority
of Ireland. RTÉ is largely financed by an obligatory television licence fee which every household pays annually
(€160) subject to a fine of up to €2000 and imprisonment if unpaid.
This revenue (approx €190,000,000 annually) is
collected by An Post ( the Irish postal
service), who are responsible for the collection of fees, inspection, and
prosecution in cases of non-payment of the license on behalf of the
Minister for Department of Communication, Climate Action and the
Environment, who has responsibility for broadcasting policy in Ireland.
Public service
broadcasting in Ireland means ‘services that are free to transmit programmes that entertain, educate, inform and cater
for all members of the community’. These services must also provide news and
current affairs programmes, including
coverage of proceedings in the Houses of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) and
the European Parliament.
In 2014, the United Nations
expressed concern at the number of people going to prison
for failure to pay fines in Ireland. The Prison Service of Irelands report
revealed that there are approximately 2,000 people imprisoned annually for
nonpayment of the TV license.
The
“Leaders Debate” which aired on RTE and Virgin Media, in advance of the 8th
February 2020 Irish General Election, excluded all but 2 Party Leaders in
flagrant disdain for principles of transparency, equality and impartiality. This
was a dangerously biased and anti democratic broadcast which suppressed diverse
political ideals from every other political party, and the views of non-party
allied public representatives, who are engaged with critical matters of
governance and legislation on behalf of the electorate.
This is in
direct contravention of Articles enshrined in the United Nations Declaration on
Human Rights outlined below:
Article 19 Everyone
has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom
to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart
information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
Article
20.2. No one may be compelled to belong to an
association.
Article 21.1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his
country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
21.2.
Everyone has the right to
equal access to public service in his country.
21.3. The will of the people shall be
the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in
periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage
and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures.
In
their January 24th 2020 complaint to the national broadcaster, Sinn
Feins lawyers wrote
that the Leaders Debate was “demonstrably
likely to unfairly influence voters in a manner which runs counter to the
democratic principles which underpin our Constitution”.
This
coupled with RTE’s refusal to “Screen
a standalone national TV #GE2020 Leaders' Debate on the single issue of the
Climate Crisis”, in answer to a petition signed by almost 4,000 voters, proves
that the channel is fundamentally in breach of its own directive to assist with
“Access to Information on the Environment Regulations (AIE) which gives
everyone the right to request environmental information that is held by a
public body and whose aim is to open up the work of public bodies where it
impacts on the environment”.
According to RTE’s website: “The Aarhus
Convention established three main principal rights for the public – to receive
environmental information, to participate in environmental decision making and
access to justice. The aim is that allowing people access to more information
would assist them when taking part in decision making processes where the
environment would be impacted by the outcome”.
During an event where scientists moved the
hands of the Doomsday Clock to 100 seconds to midnight, Irelands ex President, Mary
Robinson of the Elders warned that the world needs to wake up to the imminent
and existential Climate (and Nuclear) Threat to humanity.
Clearly this is more than merely a missed opportunity
for a neutral country to mobilise
and spearhead action, that is IF the populace was given the benefit of
inclusive debate where the full spectrum of candidates was afforded an equal
forum.
The impact of what amounts to public
disinformation of this scale, and at this critical time, will have far reaching
consequences into Ireland’s future and must be addressed and remedied with all
urgency.
We despair for our children’s future, and for
our own.
