TV3 has been told to "pull" a Ryanair advert screened last night which featured pictures of the Taoiseach. RTÉ had refused to show the ad believing to be in breach of broadcast regulations.
The 50-second advert also contained a message encouraging viewers to phone Mr Ahern's office in support of a second terminal at Dublin Airport.
The advert features Mr Ahern speaking at an Irish Management Institute conference in April warning "local monopolists or middlemen of whatever kind ... that it's time to call a halt to profiteering".
It is followed by a message from Ryanair chief executive, Mr Michael O'Leary urging viewers who support "competition, lower fares and 5,000 new jobs, [to] phone Bertie now".
The advert was not accepted by RTÉ who said they had viewed it but could not air it because it was political in nature.
A spokeswoman said: "The 1960 Broadcasting Act states RTÉ cannot accept any advert directed towards a religious or political end.
!Ryanair submitted a script and we took a look at it ... [but] it was clearly lobbying the Government in an effort to influence policy so we couldn't accept it."
TV3 said they were also approached about airing the advert but asked for amendments to be made which Ryanair agreed to. Mr David McMunn, director of government, regulatory and legal affairs for the station said TV3 believed the changes were sufficient to allow the advert to be broadcast.
However, they received a phone call this afternoon from the Broadcast Commission of Ireland (BCI) - which regulates independent broadcasters - indicating the advert was in breach of the 1990 Broadcasting Act.
"We were told the use of the image of a real person without them being first informed was not permissible and so we've told Ryanair we cannot show the advert again," Mr McMunn said.
In the advert, the clip of Mr Ahern is followed by the Ryanair boss promising five million extra tourists visiting Ireland and the creation of 5,000 new jobs in the tourist industry if the second terminal is built. He then encourages the viewer to call Mr Ahern's office in support the new facility. The phone number is then shown on the screen.
The company website carries a similar message and encourages users to log on to today's ireland.compoll which asks for comments on the break-up of Aer Rianta announced by the Minister for Transport, Mr Brennan, yesterday.
The Taoiseach's office confirmed they had a small number of calls but said the matter was now in the hands of the BCI, and did not want ot make any further comment. The ireland.comdaily poll showed a small increase in traffic.
Ryanair said they were delighted with the public's responseto the campaign and registered an increase in traffic on the site which still contains the banned advert.
Communications Manager Mr John Rowley criticised the RTE decision to act as "judge and juror in its own court". said: "Over the past 12 months RTE has run blanket ads extolling the virtues of its licence fee at a time when the Government were being asked to increase this fee by 40 per cent to 60 per cent. Apparently RTE didn't find this advertising to be 'political'," Mr Rowley said.The BCI could not be contacted.