A solicitor acting for Mr Hugh O'Flaherty has written to RTE demanding an immediate investigation of what he believes has been its biased coverage of the controversy over the former judge's nomination to the European Investment Bank.
Mr Noel Smyth claims in his letter that RTE has breached Section 18 of the Broadcasting Act in its coverage of the O'Flaherty controversy. The section obliges the organisation to be objective and impartial in its output.
According to Mr Smyth, RTE is not objective and impartial but has a view on Mr O'Flaherty's nomination.
It has used its dominant position to express this view in breach of its statutory responsibility, the letter to RTE chairman Mr Paddy Wright earlier this week claims. An RTE spokesman declined to comment on the matter yesterday.
Mr O'Flaherty has been angered by the media coverage of the controversy, particularly on RTE programmes such as Liveline. Sources close to him have claimed that comments and calls aired on the station have almost all been against his nomination.
However, sources in RTE insist that the calls aired accurately reflected both the calls received and public opinion as measured by opinion polls.
In his letter, Mr Smyth demands that RTE confirms "by return" that it will hold an impartial investigation. He asks Mr Wright to tell him immediately who will conduct such an inquiry, what its terms of reference will be and to confirm that he will report the findings to Mr Smyth.
The investigation demanded on behalf of Mr O'Flaherty appears to be separate from the usual route of making a complaint to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission. A spokes woman for the commission said yesterday that it had received no such complaint up to Wednesday of this week.
The demand for an investigation comes after a week in which RTE also received complaints from Fianna Fail over its coverage of the Moriarty tribunal.
Among a number of Government criticisms of the national broadcaster this week, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, claimed inaccurately on RTE that reporters from the station were not present during a crucial session of the Moriarty tribunal on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fail has complained to TV3, this time over what it believes was the aggressive manner in which its political correspondent, Ursula Halligan, sought comment from the Taoiseach at a function in Malahide in relation to the O'Flaherty controversy.
A Fianna Fail spokesman said yesterday that the matter with TV3 was closed.