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On 21 December 2016, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) held that a prank call made by a broadcaster to a state agency employee violated Principle 7 of the BAI Code of Programme Standards on respect for privacy. The programme concerned was the Nick Richards Show, which is a music-driven show broadcast on weekday mornings. During a July 2016 broadcast, a prank call was made to an employee of the State Examinations Commission (SEC) by a member of the show, as part of a pre-recorded daily comedy spot featuring prank calls. The call usually ends with the presenter revealing the prank nature...

The Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ASAI) has upheld a number of complaints regarding an advertisement that was part of (Coca Cola) Sprite’s “#BrutallyRefreshing” campaign. The advert appeared on two Irish websites, Joe.ie, a men’s lifestyle website, and WaterfordWhispers, a popular Irish satirical news website. The ASAI received ten complaints in relation to the campaign. The advert featured bottles of Sprite Zero and regular Sprite alongside the following captions; “she’s seen more ceilings… than Michelangelo” “you’re not popular…you’re easy” “a 2 at 10 is a 10 at 2”. All of the complainants...

The Compliance Committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has held that the broadcaster FM 104 violated a number of broadcasting rules during a live phone-in programme which featured a discussion on the issue of “special needs children and their exclusion from summer camps.” A complaint had been made over a July 2016 broadcast on “The FM 104 Phone Show” that is broadcast each weekday night and covers a wide range of topics. The complainant claimed inter alia that the broadcasting comments by one caller who referred to an autistic child as “having no mind of their own; not being ‘all...

The Executive Complaints Forum of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has rejected a complaint against the broadcaster TV3 that a comedian’s comment about the “Eucharist” infringed general community standards and respect for persons and groups in society. A complaint had been made over the March 2016 broadcast of the comedian Tommy Tiernan’s Crooked Man programme by TV3, in which he referred to the “Eucharist” as “that f****** thing”. Under section 48 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, individuals may make a complaint to the Authority that a broadcaster failed to comply with the broadcasting...

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has upheld a complaint regarding a television advertisement co-ordinated by the Irish Wind Energy Association (IWEA) as being in breach of Section 41(3) of the Broadcasting Act 2009, which provides that “a broadcaster shall not broadcast an advertisement which is directed towards a political end” (see IRIS 2009-10/18). A similar ban in the UK was found to be consistent with Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights by the European Court of Human Rights in 2013 (see IRIS 2013-6/1). The complaint concerned an advertising campaign entitled “The...