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Prior to the General Election held on 17 May 2002, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) published guidelines indicating the general approach to be adopted by independent broadcasters in their coverage of the election. The guidelines were in addition to the statutory provisions already in existence. The Radio and Television Act, 1988, requires all news to be reported in an objective and impartial manner without any expression of the broadcaster's own views. In addition, it requires the broadcast treatment of current affairs to be fair to all sides (section 9(1)). Party political broadcasts...

At the end of April the Irish legislature enacted the Communications Regulation Act, 2002. The Act provides for the establishment of a new body, the Commission for Communications Regulation ("the Commission"). The Commission will be established on a date to be decided by the Minister for Public Enterprise. The Commission will take over the functions of the Office of the Director of Telecommunications Regulation, which is the body currently responsible for implementing the laws on liberalising the telecommunications market, and is also responsible for regulating broadcasting distribution and the...

The Irish Government recently published its long-awaited Bille na dTeangacha Oifigiúla (Comhionannas) (Official Languages (Equality) Bill), 2002. The primary objectives of the Bill include the promotion of respect for Irish and English as the official languages of the State; the promotion of equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use, especially in parliamentary proceedings, legislation, the administration of justice, in communicating with or providing services to the public and in discharging the functions of public bodies. For the purposes of the Bill, the main national...

The Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI) is an independent self-regulatory body set up and financed by the advertising industry. Although the amount of legislation governing advertising in Ireland is increasing, advertising remains largely self-regulatory. The ASAI publishes two Codes, which are updated regularly. The Codes cover commercial advertisements: these are characterised as where the advertiser pays or compensates a third party to communicate the commercial message. It covers advertising that has a "paid for" space in the media, which now includes the Internet. In line with...

On 23 April, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) made public its Second Report on Ireland (even though it was adopted on 22 June of last year). The Report contains, inter alia, provisions concerning the media. These provisions are largely confined to Section M, entitled "Media", which reads: "Although some media report widely and in a responsible fashion on issues of racism and intolerance, and concerning minority groups, others have tended to adopt a very negative attitude, particularly towards asylum seekers and refugees and towards members of the Traveller Community....