Minister of State for New Communities, Culture and Equality Aodhán Ó Ríordáin said the BAI’s decision in two recent cases, in which it ruled against two radio presenters for statements made during marriage equality debates, was “overly restrictive” and would not “allow for a free-flowing debate”.
“I think there will be lots of media outlets in particular who will be very concerned as to how they’re going to conduct these debates from now on because of those rulings,” he said.
“And when discussing this issue over any other, they’re going to be worried about balance and about context. And they will be applying rules to this debate that they won’t necessarily apply to others. And I don’t think that’s fair.”
Mr Ó Ríordáin was referencing journalist and author Una Mullally’s opinion piece in *The Irish Times earlier this week in which she wrote of her attempts to talk about her new book on national radio stations.
She was told that in order to discuss the book, which is about the marriage equality movement in Ireland, there must be someone present who opposes gay rights.
“I think it’s ridiculous … I know the BAI had to do what they feel is appropriate, and I suppose on one level I can understand where they’re coming from,” said Mr Ó Ríordáin.
“I find it bizarre that somebody who has an opinion in relation to marriage equality should be stymied in that way … and I would have fears as to the ability of broadcasters to be able to allow people to have their opinions and to speak them quite openly and honestly.”
In response to Mullally’s statements, the BAI said it has not directed broadcasters to automatically “balance” a discussion with an opposing view. It also said it has never made a “ruling on marriage equality”.
Mr Ó Ríordáin was speaking after the launch of the 'Stop LGBT Hate Crime' campaign, an initiative of the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network (Glen), at the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin.
The campaign encourages people to report LGBT hate crimes and incidents directly to the gardaí and to log incidents they witness or experience at www.stopcrimehate.ie