TWO of the most senior bosses in RTÉ news and current affairs are to step aside while a public inquiry investigates how the state broadcaster incorrectly accused a County Galway priest of raping an African woman and fathering a child with her.
The station also announced that Prime Time executive producer Brian Páircéir and reporter Aoife Kavanagh will not be involved in on-air programming for the next two months.
The move follows the decision of Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte to order a Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) inquiry into how Fr Kevin Reynolds’ defamation was allowed to take place on a Prime Time Investigates programme entitled Mission to Prey.
A statement from RTÉ last night said Ed Mulhall, the managing director of RTÉ news and current affairs, and Ken O’Shea, editor of current affairs, were "by agreement" stepping aside for the duration of the BAI inquiry.
"These decisions have been agreed in order to remove any possible doubt about the objectivity and impartiality of RTÉ’s news and current affairs services at this time and are taken without prejudice to any party," it said.
In a separate statement, the board of RTÉ said the matter was "the most serious editorial question that has arisen since the late 1960s" and said questions should even be raised about the title of the programme.
The board added that both men would offer their recommendations at its next meeting on December 15.
Two inquiries are being carried out separately to that of the BAI.
One is under the supervision of RTÉ director general Noel Curran. It is to establish the sequence of events, journalistic practice and editorial decisions which led to the broadcast of the programme.
The other probe is being carried out by Professor John Horgan, the press ombudsman, and will constitute an independent assessment of editorial practice in RTÉ’s current affairs section.
Last week, Fr Reynolds received an apology and undisclosed damages, believed to be at least €1 million, from the broadcaster.
This week, Mr Curran said broadcasting the false allegations was "one of the gravest editorial mistakes" RTÉ ever made.
The Association of Catholic Priests has said that the case might make people look with greater compassion upon priests who have faced unfair and untrue allegations.
Fr Brendan Hoban said: "I am amazed at the turnaround in attitudes of RTÉ and in attitudes in general.
"This particular issue of unfair or untrue allegations against priests has been a very difficult policy for us as an organisation to address as it could suggest that we weren’t taking real victims and their pain seriously. And now the Fr Kevin Reynolds defamation case has brought this issue to light."
The move follows the decision of Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte to order a Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) inquiry into how Fr Kevin Reynolds’ defamation was allowed to take place on a Prime Time Investigates programme entitled Mission to Prey.
A statement from RTÉ last night said Ed Mulhall, the managing director of RTÉ news and current affairs, and Ken O’Shea, editor of current affairs, were "by agreement" stepping aside for the duration of the BAI inquiry.
"These decisions have been agreed in order to remove any possible doubt about the objectivity and impartiality of RTÉ’s news and current affairs services at this time and are taken without prejudice to any party," it said.
In a separate statement, the board of RTÉ said the matter was "the most serious editorial question that has arisen since the late 1960s" and said questions should even be raised about the title of the programme.
The board added that both men would offer their recommendations at its next meeting on December 15.
Two inquiries are being carried out separately to that of the BAI.
One is under the supervision of RTÉ director general Noel Curran. It is to establish the sequence of events, journalistic practice and editorial decisions which led to the broadcast of the programme.
The other probe is being carried out by Professor John Horgan, the press ombudsman, and will constitute an independent assessment of editorial practice in RTÉ’s current affairs section.
Last week, Fr Reynolds received an apology and undisclosed damages, believed to be at least €1 million, from the broadcaster.
This week, Mr Curran said broadcasting the false allegations was "one of the gravest editorial mistakes" RTÉ ever made.
The Association of Catholic Priests has said that the case might make people look with greater compassion upon priests who have faced unfair and untrue allegations.
Fr Brendan Hoban said: "I am amazed at the turnaround in attitudes of RTÉ and in attitudes in general.
"This particular issue of unfair or untrue allegations against priests has been a very difficult policy for us as an organisation to address as it could suggest that we weren’t taking real victims and their pain seriously. And now the Fr Kevin Reynolds defamation case has brought this issue to light."