RTE’s coverage of the Lisbon Treaty referendum was unintentionally unfair, MEP Gay Mitchell told an Oireachtas Committee today.
The Fine Gael politician called for an independent review of the role of the state broadcaster in its coverage of important issues such as referendums.
The MEP said: “I really do believe that RTE’s performance as a public service provider needs to be independently analysed.
“I don’t think it would be safe for us as politicians to do that job as we ourselves may have a bias.
“I don’t think that any independent analysis of RTE’s performance would show that they performed in a way that was fair and balanced in terms of providing a public service.
“I don’t think they meant to be unfair, but I certainly do not think they were fair.”
He added: “There needs to be some independent examination of the public service role of RTE when it comes to important issues like referendums.”
Mr Mitchell was speaking at the European Affairs Committee in Leinster House, which was also addressed by Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheal Martin.
Referring to red herrings that surfaced during the campaign, Mr Martin claimed his children brought home a rumour from school that the Lisbon Treaty would cut the summer holidays to just six weeks.
“That is how ridiculous some of the debate became during the campaign,” he said.
The minister told the committee he didn’t blame the media for the No result and fully accepted the people’s decision.
Referring to RTE’s coverage, he said: “I don’t want to mention names but I thought Sean Whelan’s presentations were top class in terms of information and objectivity.”
The minister also said that Sinn Fein learned valuable lessons from its poor performance in the general election campaign and this was reflected in the Lisbon referendum.
He accepted that circulating Treaty documents to all households was a good idea for future referendums.
“As a society we must become far more engaged with what is happening in Europe, instead of just becoming engaged in a crash-course sort of way during referendum campaigns,” he added.
“In our own party, we would argue that we did more than we did for Nice II.
Nothing beats the personal engagement on the doorstep. Churches and supermarkets were done but the doorstep is still very important.”
Senator Fergal Quinn told the committee: “I fear that a two-speed Europe is the likely outcome and Ireland will be excluded.”
PA