INVESTIGATION INTO LIBELING OF AHASRAGH'S FR REYNOLDS PUBLISHED

Date Published: 04-May-2012

The broadcasting authority of Ireland has recommended that RTE be fined 200 thousand euro after it found that the broadcaster breached the broadcasting act in its Prime Time Investigates Programme which libeled Fr Kevin Reynolds.

The investigation into the circumstances which led to the libel found that the programme was not fair and that it broadcast serious, damaging and untrue allegations about Fr Reynolds.

The report also criticised the editorial and managerial controls within RTE which it said failed to recognise the great injustice which could be done to Fr Reynolds.

In its submission to the investigation, RTE accepted that the defamation of Fr Reynolds was one of the most significant errors made in its broadcasting history.