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Blindboy Boatclub made remarks about Holy Communion that some found offensive. RTÉ/Twitter

BAI rejects complaints over Rubberbandit calling communion 'haunted bread' on the Late Late Show

In all, 11 complaints were received after Blindboy Boatclub’s appearance on the RTÉ show.

THE BROADCASTING AUTHORITY of Ireland (BAI) has rejected 11 complaints that were made following the appearance of one half of the comedy duo Rubberbandits on RTÉ’s the Late Late Show.

The complaints related to comments made during a panel featuring Rubberbandit member Blindboy Boatclub, writer Stefanie Preissner and writer Michael Harding, in which communion bread was referred to as “haunted bread” and the concept of eating the body of Christ as “cannibalism”.

In the show, which aired in January of this year, Blindboy Boatclub said:

Anyone who I know who goes to midnight mass is not going there for haunted bread. They’re there because their grandmother is making them go, or because their whole family is there. Everyone who goes to midnight mass is half-cut anyway.

Preissner then said, speaking of her experience as a child: “The body of Christ is a very scary concept. It’s cannibalism, like. I don’t know if I want to be eating this.”

Blindboy Boatclub also made reference to Jesus as a “ghost”, which some of the complainants to the BAI took offence to.

The varying complaints alleged that the comments were “hurtful and offensive”, and that they mocked religion.

One complainant said that the comments “crossed a line into, not merely, gratuitous offence, but sheer nastiness, hatred and contempt for the Roman Catholic faith and for those who sincerely profess it”.

RTÉ took a similar approach to each complaint. It starts by saying that presenter Ryan Tubridy brought up a topic that he had explored in his radio show that some people aged in their 30s were returning to the Catholic Church.

It said: “The broadcaster states that, as someone from that age group, Blindboy Boatclub of the Rubberbandits was first to reply, and he did so in the language of his generation and his satirical character.

The broadcaster states that the point he was making, to put the language to one side for a moment, was that in his view, people of his generation are not returning to the Church and that attendance at Christmas Eve midnight mass is not an accurate barometer of religious conviction and there are many other reasons to attend that particular ceremony.

“The broadcaster states that in neither case did the guests deride or criticise the views of others, or their faith, but rather expressed their own difficulty with a core tenet of Roman Catholicism.”

Taking the panellists’ discussion as a whole, the BAI said that while the particular comments were deemed offensive by those who had complained, its committee “considered it legitimate for a panellist to articulate their own personal views”.

It said that Blindboy Boatclub apologised to panellist Michael Harding for the offence that his comments may have caused at the time, and rejected complaints about Preissner’s “cannibal” remark because “it was clear she was describing her thoughts as a child”.

It did not uphold any of the 11 complaints on the matter.

Read: Rubberbandits do 1916 and Louise McSharry’s ‘F**k Cancer’ – RTÉ2 unveils new season

Read: The Rubberbandits called Newstalk live after taking ‘legal ecstasy’…

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151 Comments
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    Mute Ailís McKernan
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:08 PM

    a farce, thats all it is.

    62
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    Mute Keith Twamley
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:33 PM

    €19,100 a month, think Europe needs to tighten it’s own bloody belt.

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    Mute jumpthecat
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:40 PM

    He’s belt is tight enough by the look of him. Cardiff has the look of somebody after 10 pints after the All Ireland looking for a chipper.

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    Mute Karl Doyle
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:40 PM

    The UK pays them £50 million per day, they don’t need to tight.

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    Mute Aaron McKenna
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:09 PM

    That’s our secret plan to write off the debt sorted.

    As the old joke goes, “Well, the strategy is… We’re hoping that the people who lent us the money will forget about it.”

    Seems more plausible with Kevin auditing the books.

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    Mute Sean O'Keeffe
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    Mar 1st 2012, 1:48 PM

    @Aaron.
    I’ve grossly underestimated the genius of our political leaders. How long before Brussels is running like our DoF?
    If the Eurocrats uncover Kenny’s devious plan, he could always threaten them with more civil servants if he doesn’t get concessions!

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    Mute John Murphy
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:36 PM

    My comments about this chap keep getting deleted so I’m trying a new tack.
    Best of Luck Kevin! We’ll all miss you.

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    Mute Kevin Smyth
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    Mar 1st 2012, 1:35 PM

    Somehow I don’t believe you. But, since I don’t want my comment deleted either, I wish him all the best, He’s a virtuous, honest and devilishly handsome man. I have absolute trust in him. He’s GREAT!

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    Mute Eileen Gabbett
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    Mar 1st 2012, 8:36 PM

    I don’t believe you either John ….
    I hope he works out as well over there as he did here and that
    when he does, the same or similar , he will get his just desserts.
    Best of luck Kevin :)

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    Mute Peter Carroll
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:04 PM

    Quick, count the stamps.

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    Mute Pat Mc Cormack
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:51 PM

    He looks like Biffo after a few pints

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    Mute Billygoatmuff
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    Mar 1st 2012, 2:43 PM

    He’s more like Harney after a brief run.

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    Mute LoyalIrish Citizen
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:52 PM

    I hope he does the same job for them as he did for us.

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    Mute Pat Mc Cormack
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    Mar 1st 2012, 12:47 PM

    This Guy is so Cool….
    I hope he has a Wonderful time in his new job,
    I really wish him all the very best x x x x

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    Mute Gerard Murphy
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    Mar 1st 2012, 1:58 PM

    Good luck Kev, hope the new job works out well, did you get the new (working) calculator I sent you?
    I know it’s a big sacrifice for you going ovef there, what with the poor pay and all that, we’re all rooting for you back home!

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    Mute Innishvilla
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    Mar 1st 2012, 2:53 PM

    Taking up the auditors post is OK. Just don’t let him open it or play with Money and stuff

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    Mute Glyn Carragher
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    Mar 1st 2012, 1:40 PM

    Nice Photo! But I cant make up my mind whether the slogan or the individual is the bigger joke

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    Mute hjGfIgAq
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    Mar 1st 2012, 1:38 PM

    Hey folks,
    Thanks for all the comments on this. I just wanted to note that the only comments that were deleted contained offensive language and were removed as per our comments policy.
    Susan

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    Mute John Murphy
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    Mar 1st 2012, 3:41 PM

    Aww Susan. Ya could let us off once in a while.

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    Mute Rommel Burke
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    Mar 1st 2012, 3:12 PM

    Bunch up on the sofa, Kevin coming!

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    Mute Patricia Gilheany
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    Mar 1st 2012, 4:48 PM

    Cardiff gone to pastures new and leaving one hell of a mess behind him. Just look at what Anglo got away with under his watch,—Maple 10, loan warehousing etc etc etc.

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    Mute Frank2521
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    Mar 1st 2012, 4:48 PM

    For years we sent the cretins to Europe just look at our history Frank Rossi, Pee Flynn, Charlie Mc Creevy, Lucy Cretin and to top it off Our very own Kevin Cardiff. We thought we were just getting them off our TV sets as we were sick of them – now they happen to hold important positions by default. We were caught out. Still we won’t have to see as much of them walking our streets. Lucy takes up the whole footpath in Sandymount.

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    Mute Getard Langslanger
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    Mar 1st 2012, 3:28 PM

    He’s the spit of Benny Hill and a comedy( of errors) genius to boot

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    Mute Shane Farrell
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    Mar 1st 2012, 9:28 PM

    Lets just be glad he is gone!!!!

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