Dunphy admits declaration was likely to breach code

ENDORSEMENT:NEWSTALK PRESENTER Eamon Dunphy has admitted that his declaration of support for presidential candidate Martin McGuinness is likely to be in breach of the broadcasting code, but he said it was better to declare that support than keep it hidden.

Dunphy’s decision to endorse Mr McGuinness was used against him by Fine Gael candidate Gay Mitchell in an on-air discussion between the three of them on Sunday.

Mr Mitchell taunted the presenter about his public declaration of support for Mr McGuinness, which he made in an Irish Daily Starcolumn.

Mr Mitchell described Dunphy as Mr McGuinness’s “pal” and said the presenter’s handling of the broadcast was a “disgrace”.

Dunphy countered on air by telling Mr Mitchell that he was making a fool of himself.

Yesterday, Dunphy said as a “general principle” he believed it was right that broadcasters should not publicly declare their support for an election candidate in or out of the studio, but he said he wanted to be upfront about his support for Mr McGuinness. He had done so because he felt Mr McGuinness was getting a rough time in the “Southern media”.

“Declaring it, as I did, was the lesser of the sins, the other one would be to keep it hidden,” he said. “In the end I decided that the broadcast would be fair and there would be no hidden agenda and that it would be incumbent on me to be fair to every guest on the programme which I endeavour to do.

“It is better if listeners know what your views are. It is absolutely vital to give fair and equal treatment.”

Dunphy said he listened back to the broadcast and felt that he had been fair to Mr Mitchell. He added that he could have been harder on him by asking him about persistent rumours that the party hierarchy did not want him as presidential candidate and that he was trailing in the polls.

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, which regulates broadcasting in Ireland, had not received a complaint about the programme up to last night. The authority acts only on foot of complaints.

A spokesman said the prohibition on broadcasters expressing their own views in relation to current affairs pertained only to what was said on air and not what might be said elsewhere or in print.

However, in the event of a complaint, the authority’s compliance committee could look not only at the broadcast, but at other information in the public domain including newspaper columns if they were relevant. When it upholds a complaint, the authority publishes it and the broadcaster has to read it out on air.

Persistent findings of bias could also be used against a radio station if it is looking to renew its licence. A serious breach of the code could lead to fines of up to €250,000, but an authority spokesman said it had yet to set up the mechanism to fine broadcasters.

A Fine Gael spokesman said they were “moving on” from the furore over the interview. Labour Party candidate Michael D Higgins said he was not bothered by Dunphy’s declaration of support for Mr McGuinness.

In the same radio programme on Sunday, Mr Mitchell also strongly criticised Mr McGuinness. “I don’t know this man. This man says he is not a member of the IRA and hasn’t been since 1974. That’s not true, Martin,” he said. “You say you’re not running for Sinn Féin, that’s not true Martin. You say you live on the average industrial wage - you earned about 200 grand last year. Publish your P60. It’s not true Martin; who is the true Martin McGuinness?”

Mr McGuinness has rejected the Fine Gael attacks on him as “bizarre” and “rubbish”.

BIAS WHAT THE RULES SAY:Section 42 of the Broadcasting Act, 2009, provides:

a) that all news broadcast by a broadcaster is reported and presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster’s own views.

(b) that the broadcast treatment of current affairs, including matters which are either of public controversy or the subject of current public debate, is fair to all interests concerned and that the broadcast matter is presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster’s own views.