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The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) has published its new report Parental Attitudes (Post Primary) 2015. The report examines film classification and the views of parents of adolescent children, and forms part of earlier studies which examined similar issues relating to parents of primary school children, and adolescents themselves (see IRIS 2005-4/22 and IRIS 2004-9/27). The 16-page report is divided into two main sections, detailing, first, parental awareness of IFCO’s functions, and second, parental attitudes to the current classification system. The key findings include that the “vast...

On 19 January 2016, the Minister for Justice and Equality announced the establishment of an independent review of the law on access to the phone records of journalists. The review will be carried out by a former Chief Justice, the retired Mr. Justice John Murray, who is also a former judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The purpose of the Murray Review will be to “examine the legislative framework in respect of access by statutory bodies to communications data of journalists held by communications service providers.” This will include taking account of “the principle of protection...

In a majority decision, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has held that there is no automatic requirement for a broadcaster to challenge the views of a contributor on a current affairs topic. The decision arose following a complaint to the BAI concerning a 30-minute interview with an elected public official on the issue of abortion (for previous decisions, see IRIS 2016-2/14 and IRIS 2014-2/23). The complaint concerned an August 2015 edition of The Ray D’Arcy Show, which is a lifestyle and entertainment programme, broadcast weekday afternoons on the public broadcaster channel RTÉ Radio...

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has rejected a complaint against the broadcaster Newstalk, over a programme interviewer’s “robust” questioning of an interviewee. The decision arose following a complaint in relation to a May 2015 edition of the Newstalk Breakfast show, a current affairs programme broadcast each morning from 07.00 - 10.00. The show featured an interview with David Quinn, head of the religious advocacy group “The Iona Institute”, which was arguing against the then forthcoming same-sex marriage referendum. The complainant argued that the presenter “went beyond his remit...

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has upheld a complaint against the public broadcaster RTÉ over a programme which featured an interviewee discussing abortion, finding that the programme breached the Broadcasting Act’s rules on fairness, objectivity and impartiality in coverage of current affairs (for previous decisions, see IRIS 2014-2/23). The decision arose following a complaint in relation to a June 2015 edition of The Ray D’Arcy Show, a lifestyle/entertainment show broadcast weekdays on RTÉ 1 Radio. The show featured an interview with the Irish director of the non-governmental organisation...