A COMPLAINT about a broadcast which referred to Travellers as “tinkers” and “knick knacks” was upheld by the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC).
The Once a Week Show on RTÉ2 is presented by Dustin the Turkey and Sinéad Ní Churnáin. On the show, comedian Patrick Kielty said most of the passengers on the ferry from Holyhead seemed to be “lorry drivers and tinkers”.
When Ní Churnáin asked “What are tinkers?” Kielty pointed to her hoop earrings, saying “come here missus, come here” in a stereotypical Traveller accent.
Dustin the Turkey asked him to leave Sinéad “Ward” out of this and Ní Churnáin said “I’m only a part-time knick knack now”.
Pavee Point Travellers’ Centre said the exchange was “seriously offensive”. It said the incident had “caused extreme anger, upset and confusion among young Travellers who might reasonably expect a Saturday morning children’s entertainment slot to be relatively free from casual or targeted racism”.
RTÉ said it was a humorous, irreverent show and Kielty’s comments were made in a “gentle and non-threatening way”. The BCC said the terms used were known to be offensive to Travellers.
The BCC considered 33 complaints last month and rejected 18. A complaint that RTÉ broadcaster Pat Kenny had abused his position in thanking people for their support during his recent court case was not upheld.
The BCC found that Kenny was being courteous and explaining his absence from work.
Three complaints about criticism of former taoiseach Bertie Ahern were rejected. They included a complaint about TV3’s Mark Cagney who described Mr Ahern as “the rat in the anorak”.
