More than 125 signatories have sent a formal letter of complaint to RTÉ over what they said was the exclusion of climate and environmental issues from coverage of the presidential election.
The group includes doctors, academics, educators, public representatives, practitioners and representatives of NGOs and community groups.
They said RTÉ failed in its obligations as a public service broadcaster to facilitate debate on issues “of importance to the public interest”.
This amounted to a breach of the 2009 Broadcasting Act, they alleged.
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The letter was sent last Friday after interviews and debates were held with and between election candidates Catherine Connolly, Heather Humphreys and, before his exit from the campaign, Jim Gavin, on RTÉ radio and television programmes.
It cited what it said was RTÉ’s “failure to include any substantive questions or discussions relating to climate change, biodiversity or broader environmental issues during these nationally significant debates”.
It also said: “No candidate was invited to articulate views or priorities on climate change, biodiversity or environmental leadership.”
A “fleeting reference” to climate change in the final debate was insufficient and inconsistent with RTÉ’s corporate strategy, which committed to “embed sustainability in everything we do”, the letter said.
Lead signatory to the letter of complaint was Dr Cara Augustenborg, assistant professor of environmental policy at University College Dublin and a member of President Michael D Higgins’s Council of State.
Others who put their name to the letter were Prof Emeritus John Sweeney of Maynooth University, Dr Barry McMullin from Dublin City University and Dr Hannah Daly of University College Cork.
Medics from Irish Doctors for the Environment, professionals from other health networks, members of community climate groups and environmental organisations, founders of companies working in sustainability, county councillors and concerned individuals also signed.
RTÉ said it would not comment on the correspondence, which would be dealt with through the formal complaints process.
