RTÉ broadcaster Gerry Ryan caused undue offence when he referred to Jesus as a "Palestinian terrorist" on his radio programme and can be assumed to have done so just to shock, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) has ruled.
Despite an attempt by RTÉ to argue "this is precisely what the Roman authorities would have thought when they condemned Jesus to death", the commission criticises Ryan for "belittling" the complainant, Kevin Conry, on air.
His comments in this regard related to a previous complaint Mr Conry had made about Ryan's use of the phrase, but which was rejected by the BCC.
The incident, which took place during the Gerry Ryan Show on RTÉ 2FM on June 15th, is one of five complaints upheld against various broadcasters by the BCC.
Three separate complaints upheld accused RTÉ (two complaints) and Channel 6 (one) of broadcasting unsuitable adult-themed material during the day.
A further complaint was upheld against a Radio Kerry broadcaster who said people who had a certain view on the Great Agbonlahor deportation controversy were "narrow-minded".
However, 23 other complaints - including several claims of biased reporting and discussion and inappropriate programme content - against the national broadcaster were dismissed.
RTÉ had argued Ryan, talking about people he would like to take out to dinner, was "having some harmless fun and there was no intended disrespect". It also refuted Mr Conry's claim Ryan had belittled his right to complain.
Mr Conry said that, as a Catholic, he found the term "deeply insulting".
"The reference to Jesus as a Palestinian terrorist is not inappropriate . . . A colonial power, when faced by a native challenging the authority of the state, is highly likely to regard that person as a terrorist," RTÉ argued.
But the BCC said the remark was "unwarranted and unjustified in the context of the discussion in the programme".
"The context and manner was such that it could be assumed that the presenter said it just to be controversial, to shock," it said in its ruling.
"The presenter then proceeded to belittle the complainant. The language used was quite strong and included in a mocking voice: 'I've nothing else going on in my life but I've a biro and a child's copybook" . . . "and I'll take my biro and my scrawly serial killer writing . . .'"
Overall, it found the "language and comments were not consistent with the broadcaster's obligation to take measures to prevent undue offence in the treatment of religious view or beliefs".
Elsewhere, the commission upheld a complaint against Radio Kerry's Straight Talking programme. The incident arose on June 18th when the presenter was interviewing a person from the Immigrant Council of Ireland.
The BCC ruled that in summarising listeners' comments for and against the deportation of the six-year-old autistic Nigerian boy, Great Agbonlahor, and his family, the presenter's use of the words "narrow-minded" and "living in the dark ages" to describe those opposed to permitting the boy to stay did not reflect the two sides of the debate fairly.
The BCC upheld two complaints against RTÉ2 television in relation to a generic promotion for programmes such as The Sopranos, Prison Break and Grey's Anatomy. It found that due to the adult nature of the content, this should not have been broadcast at 12.15pm on June 24th and 5.50pm on July 6th.
It also said Channel 6 did not exercise due care when it broadcast a 15-certificate film featuring Friends star David Schwimmer, entitled Kissing a Fool, between 4pm and 5.45pm on May 13th.