A decision by RTÉ not to have the Green Party leader, Trevor Sargent, on either The Late Late Showor Tubridy Tonightbefore the general election has been described as an unfair snub by party chairman John Gormley.
He said that an announcement by RTÉ that the appearance of Labour leader Pat Rabbitte on Tubridy Tonightlast weekend would be the last such interview before the election meant that Mr Sargent would be the only party leader not to have been featured on at least one of RTÉ's top-rating shows during the life of this Dáil.
"It is clearly unfair and flies in the face of RTÉ's claims to offer unbiased coverage," said Mr Gormley.
A spokesman for RTÉ denied the claim of bias against the Greens and pointed out that Mr Sargent featured on The Late Late Showlast year as part of a panel discussion on the environment. "The choice of guests for these programmes is something that RTÉ does not comment on in public," added the spokesman.
Sources at the station pointed out that the Greens were getting the same coverage for their forthcoming national conference as all the major parties, even though they did not qualify under the criteria applied by RTÉ.
Mr Gormley, however, said that the Greens were concerned and disappointed that their party leader had not been given the same treatment on Tubridy or The Late Late Showas the other party leaders.
"People have never been so interested in green issues and the Green Party has worked tirelessly to promote our messages in a clear and understandable way.
"The people have recognised this - our level of popular support in the polls is double what it was before the last general election.
"We have tried for years to have our fair share of coverage, but RTÉ seems to have other ideas," said Mr Gormley.
He said that during the lifetime of the current Dáil Tubridy Tonighthad hosted the leaders of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour, and also interviewed key figures in those parties including Brian Cowen, John and Richard Bruton, and Michael McDowell before he was leader of the PDs.
