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THE CHAIRWOMAN of the Referendum Commission overseeing information on this Saturday’s vote on children’s rights has praised the country’s broadcasters for their “civic-minded” decision to devote extra broadcasting time to its campaign.
Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan had written to broadcasters last month expressing fears that the unusually one-sided nature of the campaign for Saturday’s vote could mean broadcasters might overlook the vote in their news coverage.
Geoghegan had asked the broadcasters to devote extra time to the impartial information bulletins prepared by her Commission, which are carried on radio and TV in advance of referenda since the Commission was first established in 1998.
This was because “the amount of airtime and space being given to discussion of the referendum proposal in all broadcast and print media appeared to be considerably less on this occasion than in relation to many previous referendums”.
This morning the Commission said every single radio and TV broadcaster in the country had acceded to the request, meaning every broadcaster in the country was devoting more time to its broadcasts than was necessary.
“Our representatives have been in contact with each of the stations over the past few weeks and all have agreed to give more time to our information broadcast,” Finlay Geoghegan said.
The judge praised the broadcasters for their “overwhelmingly positive and civic-minded response” to her request.
(YouTube: chemistryireland)
It is thought that RTÉ and other broadcasters were reluctant to give significant coverage to the referendum due to the near-universal support for the measure among political parties, which meant the minority of voices supporting a No vote would have been given larger individual coverage than those on the Yes side.
The Commission’s broadcasts offer a happy medium to this, as the Commission itself puts forward a summary of arguments in favour of both a Yes and a No vote, and removes the requirement of broadcasters to engage with outside speakers.
The Referendum Act 1998 allows the government to order broadcasters to allocate time to the Referendum Commission’s broadcasts, but does not specify a minimum amount – meaning the quotum of time is only agreed by negotiation between the Commission and the broadcasters themselves.
The Commission’s gratitude to broadcasters comes as the Supreme Court begins to hear an appeal against the content of the government’s separate information campaign on the referendum.
The High Court last week rejected a claim by Mark McCrystal that the content of the government’s informational website and literature was biased in favour of a Yes vote.
RTÉ News points out that the Supreme Court has agreed to give priority to the appeal, given that the referendum itself is due in just four days’ time.
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Similar to the Fiscal Treaty Referendum where other people’s money was used to promote a yes vote.
CATHOLIC BISHOPS CALL FOR A YES VOTE, i wonder why? could it be that the increased powers given to government agencies in this referendum will lead to a return of the institutional schools ? giving the clergy access to young and vulnerable children, time we learned from our past, the least the state or the clergy have to do with the health and welfare of our children the better.
Still a NO vote from me….
Did ya ever listen to a more boring voice than that of Finley Geoghegan? And she couldn’t answer any of the hard questions….all responses to these questions were dealt with by referring to future legislation TO BE ENACTED…. Be very worried?!??
The Referendum Commission cannot answer hard questions = useless.
Below are the rights of the child that should be enshrined into the Constitution as per the Constitutional Review Group in 1996
a) the right of every child to be registered immediately after birth and to have from birth a name
b) the right of every child, as far as practicable, to know his or her parents, subject to the proviso that such right should be subject to regulation by law in the interests of the child
c) the right of every child, as far as practicable, to be cared for by his or her parents
d) the right to be reared with due regard to his or her welfare
Why no mention in these simple childrens rights in this referendum?
Wake up and vote no and demand real childrens rights!
The Referendum Commission failed to refer to the second of only two child-specific Constitutional rights in its “independent” brochure, namely the right conveyed by Article 44.2.4 of the Constitution to permit any child to attend any school in receipt of public money without attending religious instruction in that school, and without attending it in a prejudicial way, ie, harmful, discriminatory or otherwise detrimental way. I contend, and I complained to the Referendum Commission, that they have not been fair in their representation of related Constitutional provisions. The intellectual abuse of some 20,000 Irish scholars by denying them effective right to abstain from indoctrination is a contemporary Magdalene Homes case.
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