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On 21 May 2015, a High Court judge granted an injunction preventing the public broadcaster RTÉ from broadcasting confidential banking information concerning an Irish businessman. The judge announced that he would publish a “redacted” judgment at a later date and ruled that some of his conclusions could not be reported by the media until lawyers agreed on which parts of the judgment should be redacted. The 48-page redacted judgment was published on 3 June 2015. But, on 29 May 2015 and before the redacted judgment was published, a Member of Parliament disclosed some of the confidential banking information...

On 1 May 2015, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources announced a public consultation on the possible designation of additional sports events on free-to-air television (for a previous consultation, see IRIS 2014-7/25). Section 162 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 provides that the Minister may, by order, designate events of major importance to society, coverage of which can be provided by free-to-air broadcasters in the public interest. Under the Act, the Minister may also determine whether coverage should be available on a live, deferred or both live and deferred basis. The...

On 25 March 2015, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland published its new Guidelines in Respect of Coverage of Referenda. The Guidelines set out rules and advice for broadcasters in their coverage of two referenda set to take place in May 2015 (the first proposing allowing same-sex marriage and the second proposing a reduction in the age of eligibly for presidential candidates). The new Guidelines replace the previous Guidelines in Respect of Coverage of Referenda, issued in 2013 and 2011 (see IRIS 2013-8/27 and IRIS 2011-9/24). Rule 27 of the Authority’s Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality...

On 2 December 2014, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources signed an order designating a new television channel, UTV Ireland, as a public service under the Broadcasting Act 2009. On 1 January 2015 the channel began broadcasting free-to-air in Ireland. UTV Ireland will be a general entertainment channel and its schedule includes a nightly news and current affairs programme. In November 2013, UTV Ireland applied for a licence under section 71 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, which allows the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland to grant a television “content provision contract”....

On 3 February 2015, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) launched its new broadcasting funding scheme entitled “Sound & Vision III”, which has been recently approved by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The scheme makes available nearly EUR 24 million in funding for specific television and radio programmes over the next two years (for previous schemes, see IRIS 2005-10/7). The new scheme is made under section 154 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, which requires the Authority to prepare a funding scheme to support a number of objectives, including new television or...