by Miceál O’Hurley
DUBLIN — Last night’s RTÉ Prime Time debate for the Dublin constituency for European elections last night was limited to only those MEP Candidates who belonged to parties holding seats in either Dáil or Seanad Éireann. The exclusion of Independent candidates standing for election to the European Parliament was a blatantly un-democratic act contrary to the principles of inclusion that has been a hallmark of European politics.
According to correspondence seen by Diplomacy in Ireland – European Diplomat RTÉ notified Independent Candidates that they would be focusing the debate solely to candidates already holding office as an MEP or who belong to parties in the Oireachtas. Attempts to solicit comment from RTÉ prior to publication were directed to voice mail. A message taken by the switchboard requesting comment was not returned.
Those invited to participate by RTÉ included Barry Andrews (Fianna Fáil), Lynn Boylan (Sinn Féin), Regina Doherty (Fine Gael), Ciarán Cuffe (Green Party), Clare Daly (Independents 4 Change), Sinéad Gibney (Social Democrats), Aodhán Ó Riordáin (Labour Party) and Bríd Smith (People Before Profit-Solidarity). 16-other candidates excluded from participation in last night’s Prime Time coverage of the Dublin MEP election, including, Umar Al-Qadri (Independent), Rebecca Barrett (National Party), Niall Boylan (Independent Ireland), Robin Cafolla (Independent), Aisling Considine (Aontú), Daithí Doolan (Sinn Féin), Philip Dwyer (Ireland First), Andy Heasman (The Irish People), Conor Murphy (Independent), Eamonn Murphy (Independent), Diarmaid Ó Conaráin (Irish Freedom Party), Brendan Ogle (Independent), Stephen O’Rourke (Independent), Patrick Quinlan (National Party), Malachy Steenson (Independent).
Admittedly, the Dublin slate of candidates is extensive, running to some 23-candidates. Some Oireachtas party candidates were not invited, however their party was represented by their choice of their ‘leading’ candidate most likely to draw No. 1 preference votes and transfers, still providing a decisive advantage to party candidates at the expense of Independents. Providing prime-time coverage to candidates who belong to Oireachtas parties or sitting MEPs, only days before voting takes place, sends and indelible message and image (‘medium is the message’) that Independents should receive lesser consideration. If creating a fair and even playing field is difficult so be it – that is the price of democracy. This is a troubling ethic for a State Broadcaster that should serve all the people and a dangerous precedent for an advanced democracy.
One candidate interviewed by me, who wished to remain anonymous in the hopes of getting future coverage from the State Broadcaster for fear of being “blackballed” if they complained about the inequality of being omitted form the Prime Time debate, complained that Oireachtas party candidates were being given “what amounts to tens-of-thousands of Euros of free coverage, in Prime Time and it looks like RTÉ wants to please the very people who hold their purse-strings after a bruising string of scandals that threatened RTÉ’s funding base. The parties benefit from access to the TV License revenue in the hands of RTÉ. How am I supposed to compete with that kind of favouritism and spondulics?”
The point is a fare and disconcerting one. The State broadcaster should not be narrowing the field of voices from whom the public should hear and see prior to the election. The assertion that there is only so much room for candidates on a debate platform is a poor excuse. If ballot sheets can be made longer to accommodate as many candidates that qualify to stand for election to the European Parliament then surely the RTÉ, the State broadcaster, can use its bully-pulpit and airwaves to allocate additional programming to accommodate all of the candidates standing.
Showing favouritism towards the very parties that control their budget to the exclusion of Independent candidates smacks of a ‘jobs for the boys’ approach to the use of public airwaves and it lacks any sense of journalistic integrity, fairness or impartiality.
RTÉ has a responsibility to provide full, fair and balanced coverage that helps inform the electorate. Depriving voters of the chance to see and hear how Independent candidates might fare on the debate stage against party candidates, and receive their views, is a disservice to the European ideal of equality. At a time when authoritarian regimes that limit freedom of speech and attack the free press are experiencing a sharp rise the very idea that a State broadcaster like RTÉ would seek to engage in decision-making during an election cycle that omits the voice of Independent candidates seems egregiously wrong.
RTÉ Mission and Values page claims its mission is, “To enrich Irish life with content that challenges, educates and entertains”. The sages claimed partial knowledge is worse than ignorance. They were right. By presenting only those candidates RTÉ decided at their sole discretion were worthy of the public hearing from RTÉ failed in its mission of providing programming that “educates”. As for its self-described values to, “Be resourceful and innovative in how it makes its content” as well as to “Be brave – take risks and be willing to learn from failures,” RTÉ has failed, roundly and should have prioritised programming that included all candidates over yet another episode of East Enders or Fair City. After all, European elections occur only once every 5-years. An informed electorate in such circumstances seems far preferable to an entertained one as democracy depends on one and not the other.
“Democracy Dies in Darkness” was a phrase popularized by investigative journalist Bob Woodward who dug deep to expose the Watergate affair. While the Nixon Administration may have had a vested interest in hiding the truth the voting public deserved to know what was going on inside of their own government. With that in mind, RTÉ should have been at pains to ensure there was no appearance of impropriety or favouritism in providing election coverage to parties sitting in Dáil or Seanad Éireann. This is especially true following the litany of scandalous financial practices that brought our State Broadcaster into disrepute, so much so that it required independent investigators Mazars to render several damning reports about highly-questionable financial practices and problematic culture that led to RTÉ losing public confidence. As a result of the series of scandals RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes submitted her resignation. The Government accepted in principle all 116 specific recommendations made by Mazars and required RTÉ to be overseen by a ‘Monitoring Group’.
While Forbes’ tenure brought RTÉ into sharp disrepute her replacement as Director General, Kevin Bakhurst, has directed his efforts at cultural reform and credibility building. Bakhurst’s presence in the State Broadcaster’s leadership is what makes RTÉ Prime Time’s decision to favour the Oireachtas parties who have oversight over their funding and operations over Independents so deeply troubling. Bakhurst is known for his keen sense of fairness and high level of integrity. Placing RTÉ in a position in which it is being accused of trading preferential coverage to those who control their funding over candidates who have no control over it is the mistake of a neophyte. As a previous Managing Director of News & Current Affairs at RTÉ Backhurst should have held the State Broadcaster to a higher-standard that ensured all qualified candidates standing for election as an MEP for Dublin, and admitted to the ballot, were treated equally.
Prime Time’s decision to deprive Dublin’s voters of the views, opinions and hearing the manifestos of Independent candidates during last night’s debate was a serious failure on the part of RTÉ. This decision has not only struck at the heart of democratic values and obligations to be fair and impartial as a State Broadcaster but has served to provide fodder to fringe candidates who see a conspiracy at every turn (though this time their outrage has grounding in fact).
Oireachtas party candidates already share a baked-in advantage over Independents. With the party apparatus and experienced ‘bag men’ gathering significant funding it is difficult for Independents to pierce the mediums which promote candidates. Sinn Fein, a supposedly “socialist,” party of the “working class” has used its extensive party apparatus in the United States to host $1,000 per-plate fundraising dinners at the likes of New York’s historic Plaza Hotel and host a golf event at the iconic Hudson National Golf Club where a foursome paid $7,500 to add to the party’s notoriously obscure operating coffers. Sinn Fein’s spend on social media alone in 2024 has reportedly exceeded €44,450. That spend exceeds the combined spends of Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Labour and the Social Democrats at €18,570. Still, even the lowest individual party spend exceeded that of any Independent candidate showing how party candidates enjoy a profound advantage over Independents.
Much like the United States, money is now the purchaser of ‘free speech’ and unfortunately, the poor and un-affiliated members of our democracy can’t pay enough to be heard or seen. RTÉ’s decision to further disenfranchise candidates seeking change only furthers that democratic deficit.
The perversity of RTÉ further tipping the scales in favour of Oireachtas party candidates in the MEP elections by giving them preferential coverage in Prime Time, only days before voters make their decisions smacks of the structural inequalities that pervade in our democratic experiment. A State Broadcaster has a profound responsibility to help ensure Ireland has an informed electorate. They have failed to do so and we should all be wondering why. European Parliament candidates should not be given preference simply because of their domestic party alignment.
Party electoral standings in Dáil or Seanad Éireann should have no bearing on European elections. RTÉ’s decision to exclude the full panel of candidates from Prime Time debate coverage can only be seen in the context of the use of State funds to bolster political parties at the expense of Independents and the Irish electorate’s right to be fully informed before making such an important democratic decision. Our State Broadcaster’s decision to subvert our European Parliament elections based on feeding into domestic political advantages serves no good or justifiable purpose.
It is no wonder so many voters are considering voting for anti-establishment candidates who oppose Europe simply out of a frustration with institutional favouritism that serves to perpetuate the established elite. When a State Broadcaster ignores the hoi polloi they are simply creating yet another premise for those feeling disenfranchised to become oppositional ultra-nationalists, anti-institutionalists, extremists and isolationists. Such extremists that are repeatedly left to feel as though they are un-heard are being transformed into anti-democratic weapons that are beginning to cut deep at our faith in democracy, institutions and thereby injuring our social cohesion.
Sadly, not a single candidate on the stage at last night’s Prime Time debate for Dublin MEP candidates decried the lack of equality shown by RTÉ in giving them a platform to reach the masses at the expense of their competitors or democracy itself. But why should they? Each candidate that appeared last night did so, not at the cost to their campaign or party, but by virtue of the financial levy imposed by on Irish households by the Oireachtas so dominated by their parties. In so doing each received what would be comparable to thousands-of-Euros of free publicity in a platform that shared its claimed 527,000 unique viewers with the party candidates.
When elections may at times be decided by handfuls of votes within the context of a complicated process of transfers already structured to benefit our civil war era parties RTÉ should not have acted to potentially influence the election by its self-selective decision to exclude Independent candidates. It is little wonder the Independent candidate I interviewed feels that RTÉ’s decision to place its heavy hand on the scale of justice in favour of Oireachtas party candidates appears to be a quid pro quo for future ‘light touch’ treatment of RTÉ in the aftermath of such significant scandals. Even if this is not so, the appearance of impropriety has proved as injurious to our democratic process and values as any impropriety itself.
The age of paternalism has long passed whether RTÉ understands that or not. No State Broadcaster should place what appears to be their interest in pleasing their money-masters over their obligation to serve the public interest by deciding for the people which voices deserve to be heard. In a democracy all voiced deserve to be heard. The people of Ireland deserve better.
