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The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland’s compliance committee has held that the Newstalk 106-108 radio station breached the Authority’s broadcasting code, when one of its presenters stated he would vote in favour of same-sex-marriage in any future referendum in Ireland. The decision arose when a complaint was made to the Authority over a 10-minute item on the Newstalk Breakfast Show programme concerning a forthcoming gay-pride parade in Dublin (for a similar complaint against the Irish public broadcaster recently upheld by the Authority, see IRIS 2014-8/27). The programme item included a presenter...

At its meeting of July 2014, the Compliance Committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) upheld, in part, a complaint made against the broadcast of a dance routine, which included clear sexual overtones. The complaint concerned the broadcast of the dance routine at 6:30pm on a Sunday evening on RTÉ television’s The Voice of Ireland, without any prior audience warnings or notifications as to the nature of the content. Under section 48 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, viewers can complain about broadcasting content, which they believe is not in keeping with broadcasting codes and rules....

On 28 May 2014, the European Commission approved the EUR 780 million takeover of O2 Ireland, the second largest mobile operator in the country, by Three Ireland, the smallest and most recent operator. The deal brings Three Ireland’s share of the market to 37%. When the proposed acquisition was notified to the Commission in October 2013, the Commission considered that, without remedies, it would lead to higher prices and less competition. Hutchison (trading as Three Ireland) proposed a number of commitments to resolve the EC’s competition concerns. The takeover, therefore, was made conditional on...

On 24 June 2014 the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources published the report of the Internet Content Advisory Group. The Group, which consisted of experts in the fields of child safety and online behaviour, as well as legal, technical and industry experts, and a student representative, considered emerging issues in the area of online content and its general impact on the lives of children and young people (see IRIS 2014-4/22). The Group were asked to consider a number of issues arising for society, and in particular for children and young people, from the dramatic growth in...

At its meeting of June 2014, the Compliance Committee of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) upheld a complaint made on behalf of the Family and Media Association, a group which promotes Catholic family values in the media. The complaint concerned an item discussing civil partnership in Ireland, broadcast on RTÉ Radio One’s Mooney Show on 20 January 2014, during which the presenter invited views from his guests on a referendum to change the law and introduce same-sex marriage. Under section 48 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, listeners can complain about broadcasting content which they believe...