No dismissals over libellous 'Prime Time' programme

RTÉ HAS indicated that nobody will be dismissed as a result of the Fr Kevin Reynolds libel action which is understood to have cost the broadcaster more than €1 million in damages and legal costs.

RTÉ’s head of corporate communications, Kevin Dawson, said treating the matter as a “punitive exercise is not necessarily the best route to learning the lessons that arise from a regrettable case of this sort”.

In the High Court yesterday the statement, which lasted more than 20 minutes, was read out in front of the programme's reporter, Aoife Kavanagh, the executive producer, Brian Páircéir, and the Prime Timeeditor Ken O'Shea.

When asked if he was going to remain on as editor, Mr O'Shea said all inquiries were being referred to Mr Dawson. Mr Dawson defended the Prime Time Investigates programme which he said had an "excellent long-term track record. Clearly serious errors were made in this case."

When questioned on RTÉ's Drivetimeprogramme if anybody would be dismissed as a result of the action, he said: "It is very difficult for a rolled head to learn anything. If you have an extremely experienced, dedicated and excellent team on a programme... that has made an absolutely exceptional error, the best way to learn is to see how we would avert such errors in the future."

The terms of the settlement have not been made public at the request of Fr Reynolds, but measured against other libel actions it was expected to be more than €1 million.

The Irish Missionary Union said the public, who paid the licence fee, needed to know the answer to several questions arising out of the broadcast.

Its executive secretary, Fr Eamon Aylward, said RTÉ should explain why it had not taken Fr Reynolds up on his offer to do a paternity test before the broadcast, as well as detail the legal advice it was given before the broadcast and reveal what attempts were made to try to verify the allegation made by the person who made the false accusation against Fr Reynolds.

Fr Aylward said the public should also be told what disciplinary action had or would be taken against those responsible.

Fr Reynolds did not comment on the case after its completion, but the head of the Association of Catholic Priests, Fr Séan McDonagh, said it had caused the priest “pain and trauma” from the very beginning.

He described the allegations as “vile and appalling” and said such false allegations were one of the reasons the public thought paedophilia in the priesthood was much more prevalent than it actually is.

He referred to a recent Amarach survey which found almost half the population believed one in five priests was a paedophile when the figure was closer to 2 per cent to 3 per cent. “I hope this is a wake-up call, but we are asking for truth, fairness and justice.”

The issue of the libel action is likely to be discussed at the next meeting of the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources.