Mitchell says IRTC ban on newspaper ad unacceptable

The Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) is under pressure to reverse its decision to ban an advertisement for the Irish Catholic newspaper from local radio. The Fine Gael TD Mr Gay Mitchell has described the ban as "nonsense, ridiculous and unacceptable".

The IRTC, Mr Mitchell said, should reverse its decision immediately based on common sense and natural justice. Failing that, he said, the legislation under which the advertisement was banned should be immediately amended. The proposed advertisement described the weekly publication as connecting "the issues of the day with the teachings of the [Catholic] Church".

In a statement issued yesterday, the Commission said that the advertisement contravened Section 10 (3) of the Radio and Television Act, 1988, which rules out advertisements directed towards a religious or political end, or which have any relation to an industrial dispute.

"The IRTC's interpretation of this section of the Act and its constitutionality was challenged in the courts by Roy Murphy of the Irish Faith Centre. A decision in favour of the IRTC was given in the High Court by Mr Justice Geoghegan in April 1997 and it was subsequently upheld in the Supreme Court in May 1998," the statement went on.

In the light of this, the IRTC said it had "no discretion in this matter".

However, Mr David Quinn, editor of the Irish Catholic, said the Commission had taken "a ludicrously strict interpretation of the Act". He said the Act was "designed to stop political, industrial or sectarian conflict on the airwaves, not advertisements such as this".

Mr Quinn said that failing any reversal of the decision, or change to the legislation, the Irish Catholic would consider a constitutional challenge, although he conceded that such a decision would be "enormously expensive".