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A NUMBER of candidates have accused RTÉ of breaching broadcasting rules in its coverage of this weekend’s opinion poll.
Dublin Before Profit candidate Bríd Smith and the Socialist Party’s Paul Murphy said the broadcaster cut them from a news report two days ago.
Euro election candidate Bríd Smith said she was not included in a media report of the Sunday Business Post/Red C poll on Saturday’s 9 o’clock news.
She has now lodged an official complaint with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) over the issue.
Smith said she believes RTE “took an arbitrary decision” to cut her of the result of the opinion poll which showed that she was running at 9 per cent.
Smith’s support has risen by 4 per cent (from 5 per cent as reported in the Sunday Independent/ Millward Brown on 27 April 2014) in the first week of the campaign.
Smith has asked RTÉ to explain the reasons behind its decision.
Joe Higgins, who is running Murphy’s election campaign, is also lodging a complaint.
“The poll results actually indicate that a genuine Left candidate can win one of the three seats in Dublin,” he said in a statement this evening, noting that Smith and Murphy have 16 per cent support between them.
“Undoubtedly the media establishment would like the anger at the betrayals of the Labour Party to be channelled into what they consider to be safer channels and avoid a repeat of the campaign victory that I had five years ago.”
A third complaint has been submitted by former Green Party MEP Patricia McKenna. She said RTÉ was trying to “influence voter opinion” with the report.
McKenna is not running in this year’s election and says she is not involved in any campaign.
RTÉ’s decision to report in such a selective manner was an assault on the democratic process and the right of voters to a free and fair election campaign,” she said.
“RTÉ must take immediate steps undo the harm it has caused and to limit the damage to both these campaigns. It must also ensure that the Irish are allowed make a free and fair choice in the election and that their own money is not being use directly or indirectly to influence the outcome of the vote.”
The broadcaster told TheJournal.ie it would not be making any comment on the issue.
Additional reporting by Sinéad O’Carroll
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Great worker since he lost his seat,so keep him out of dail eireann.
@@mdmak33: he got stuck in the last time of the floods too. I think he is more genuine than most other politicians.
@Derek Lyster: Credit where it’s earned in fairness. Fair dues to him for getting stuck in. I’d credit it more though if a passer by had filmed and posted rather than self promotion. Looks a bit set up that way in the possibility of another election. Too cynical?
@@mdmak33: WHY
@Mick Murphy: Maybe a little but I can see your point as well. I suppose that’s the life of a politician.
@Mick Murphy: Not one bit cynical. Went out of his way to help in Inishowen where he wasn’t going to get any votes. He got them the money but the local shyster council are stashing away the funds and doing nothing.
@Jointheclubtoo: I suppose it’s the way it’s written but my comment wasn’t inferring that he was cynical. It was me asking the question was I being too cynical in questioning his motives. I don’t know the man so I don’t know if it’s fair to say he’s just looking for a photo op but I’m pointing out that the optics are questionable for others like me who don’t know him and are used to politicians playing for the camera and doing f all at other times.
Good man. No publicity like self publicity. Looking forward to seeing his next outing as local hero.
@alan: Other than the distinctive name I’m not familiar with him, that said, at least he’s willing to get his hands dirty and do something for those people he represents. Can’t argue with that.
@alan: He’s Fkuced anyway, sure he lost his seat, thank God.
@Eugene Comaskey: He didn’t contest the election.
Good on you Boxer. I’m sure there’s no sign of that Shinner wan who floated into town from some bunker or other.
Keep up the good work.
@Dominic Hearns:
@Dominic Hearns: you mean the SF td who was there a week after the elections meeting residents and raising concerns with the opw and council before the water level got so high and threatened peoples homes?? The same sf td who has been in all the affected areas across the constituency and not just her own back garden?? The 2 sf tds from longford/Westmeath and Roscommon brought Mary Lou back to the areas on Tuesday calling for cross party support to finally stop the lunacy of water management on the Shannon. Good politicans do things with intention, not for attention. Boxers shenanigans only shows how he failed as minister for flooding – it’s still bloody flooded!! He had 4 years to fix it, how long was he planning on dragging it out for?
@Sam Bartell: go to bed you clown, enough of these toxic people for now!
@Dominic Hearns: dont speak dominic you’ll only be ridiculed
@Dominic Hearns: dont speak dominic you’ll only be ridiculed
@Dominic Hearns: ???
@john gavin: Hit a nerve ???
@Sam Bartell: yes Sam, if that’s your real name, also there when Gerry Mc Cabe was murdered and all the others murdered an tortured. Now craw back into your bunker
Unfortunately all this does is remind me of Moan Burton tipping the canoe in 6″ of water.
Wait a minute, he was the “minister of state for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief”?
He caused this problem by inaction and now he’s seemingly intent on fixing it with his own hands.
He’ll be wrestling bears naked with Putin yet.
Read his title again, he was in charge of flood relief!
@Cormac Laffan: lol he caused all the floods.Every town up and down the country has Boxer Moran to blame for the floods. LOL . The man secured millions for flood relief. lots of work has already been completed and much more has to be done. It doesn’t happen overnight. Somebody else will no doubt be waiting to jump into his seat and take the credit when all the planning comes to fruition and people see the benefits of the hard work already put into it.
Boxer must only be raging that the election came before the floods…
@Phil O’ Meara: A pipe burst the week of the local elections last year. On my way home from work I witnessed Cathal Crowe in his hi-vis vest, skipping around, jumping over and of course pointing at puddles with a photographer to document the farce!
@Steph: Haha! Who can forget Joan Burton getting into a canoe and falling out. All in about 8 inches of water.
@Phil O’ Meara: It was the Longford local TD campaign that done for him I think?
The blatant self publicity on social media does take from the ‘good deed’ though.
How lucky was it that there was someone there to film it.
@Stanley Marsh: Vladamir Putin went bare chested too
@Quentin Moriarty: sorry Michael spotted your comment too late
I’ll add that Putin was on a horse out of water
Our very own Vladmir Putin
Boxer will appear in a pair of speedos and a snorkel in his next posters
@Sean Dempsey: better than a pair of boxers.
Where is the picture?
Another election NOW!!!
@lambda sensor: Why??
While we’d like to think he’s being altruistic the cynic in me believes this will:
I) detract from the remarks he made about the electorate for not re-electing him that stunk of entitlement &
II) laying the ground work for his GE2020 round 2 campaign
He will have another chance sooner than he thinks to win back his seat.
Yet another blatant display of toxic masculinity has the man no shame!
Ah sure did he not say the voters let him down!
What a self righteous clown! Can see now why he lost his seat!
@maurolee: think your the clown
Where is Sochra ? She is not manning the pumps in Athlone. Does she really care? Is she just a token SF politician.
God bless him for reacting now that he’s lost his seat….how long are those affected looking for a response from Lester house?
These current floods are otherwise known as “Boxers revenge”
Athlone have lost a good representative the idiots
@James Gorman #FBPE: Boxer Moran lost his seat because as a Minister of State and being part the Government as member the Independent Alliance .. he had to support the Government on a number of votes relating to the Defense Forces regarding their pay and conditions ….
In the end Boxer Abstained in some crucial votes.., when he probably wanted to vote against Defense Minister Paul Kehoe’s proposals ….but if he voted against them , he would have had to resign his seat as Minister …and then he would lost his ability to drive flood relief funding …..
So the two issues that were most relevant to Athlone ironically nailed him…
Because Athlone has a very Large Army Family base … @ GE they didn’t forgive him for not voting down Kehoe’s proposals ..so hence he lost his seat..
@XvSv: Most In Athlone. and in many towns & villages up and down theShannon River Basin … will readily agree that Boxer brought more focus and fight at the Cabinet to secure funding for Flood Relief schemes … than any other Minister has done in a generation..
I think the people of Athlone will come to learn that in due course ..
Those people celebrating SF success at Boxer’s expense ..
please refer to SF GE Manifesto. as I was arguing on another last week here on the journal , there is a single mention of Flood Relief scheme funding in their Climate Change proposals … SF only concrete is scrap Carbon Tax … which is no doubt popular …. but we need to invest between €2-€3 Billion over the next decade to alleviate flooding in the Shannon River basin and other major Rivers also.
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