Break the Silence
Irish Broadcasting Sector: Servants to Lobbyists, Not the People
The objectivity, impartiality and independence of the Irish broadcasting sector are being compromised by the involvement of the broadcasting regulator and the national public service broadcaster in a national strategy that uncritically adopts gender identity theory – the view that a person’s internal sense of gender should take precedence over biological sex in matters of law and policy.
Both the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and RTÉ contributed to the development of the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy and were also involved in its implementation. Although originally intended to run for just two years, from 2019 to 2021, the strategy remained in effect until October 2024 and is shortly to be succeeded by a new version.
The Strategy lists 108 ‘actions’ which, although designed with the noble intention of creating a more inclusive and equal society, paradoxically undermine people’s right to freedom of belief and expression by requiring the uncritical acceptance of gender identity theory. One action, for example, involves ensuring that gender identity is included in the 2026 census whilst another requires updating the Garda ‘Hate Crime’ tag to include gender identity.
The Strategy involves every Government Department as well as agencies ranging from the Gardaí to the Defence Forces, the Central Statistics Office to Sport Ireland, and Fáilte Ireland to RTÉ. Notably, the Press Council of Ireland, with responsibility for upholding freedom of the press, has maintained its independence and is not involved.
According to the Strategy, the BAI and RTÉ have the responsibility ‘to support the positive portrayal’ of people with LGBTI+ identities. In addition, RTÉ is required ‘to support positive messaging around Pride’, and ‘to promote LGBTI+ visibility, awareness and expertise’. Although these actions are framed in an upbeat inclusive manner, participation is resulting in a broadcasting sector that is no longer impartial, objective, free, or fair.
The practical impact of the Strategy on broadcasting in Ireland, and on RTÉ in particular, has been the promotion and platforming of people and stories that align with its goals – namely, the promotion of gender identity theory. This has resulted in an abundance of interviews with proponents of this contested theory, and the silencing, sidelining, or no-platforming of those who dissent.
Although RTÉ issued a statement to say that their involvement in the Strategy ‘did not impact on RTÉ’s mandate to be fair, impartial, and objective’, there is ample evidence of RTÉ bias on the topic of gender identity. For example, Irish author Helen Joyce who wrote the best-selling book Trans: When Ideology Meets Reality has not once been interviewed on RTÉ. In fact, I am not aware of any critic of gender identity theory who has been interviewed on any RTÉ television chat show in the last five years – if ever.
RTÉ has made very very occasional forays into the topic, including two Prime Time TV current affairs shows five years apart from each other. This stands in stark contrast to the countless interviews with individuals who present gender identity theory in a positive light. Just days ago, for instance, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, speaking on one of Ireland’s most-watched programmes, The Late Late Show, made it clear that she subscribes to gender identity theory.
Irish columnist Eilis O’Hanlon summed it up in a recent opinion piece in the Sunday Independent, noting that the recent UK Supreme Court ruling – which confirmed that the terms ‘man’, ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ refer to biological sex - was not covered on any RTÉ radio or television show dedicated to discussing major news events. This omission is striking, particularly given that the ruling is likely to have implications for Ireland down the line.
LGBT Ireland, a hugely powerful gender identity lobby group that was instrumental in setting up the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy, issued a ‘Report Card’ in 2024, grading the Irish Government at C+ for its implementation of the Strategy to date. It is extraordinary that a lobby group would have the audacity to act like a teacher and treat the Government like its student - but such is the power of the gender identity lobby group in Ireland today.
The LGBT Ireland Report graded the action under the remit of the BAI and RTÉ a miserable E, partly because RTÉ had dared – once - to allow ordinary people with diverse views on gender identity to speak, during three consecutive Liveline radio phone-in shows in June 2022. LGBT Ireland considered the Liveline shows particularly egregious because they took place during the quasi-sacred ‘Pride month’ (June). The broadcasting sector had failed to follow LGBT Ireland rules.
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland became Coimisiún na Meán in 2023, thus ensuring that most people cannot remember the name or spell the agency responsible for regulating broadcast media in Ireland. This change of name could have been used as get-out-clause for involvement with the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy but, as Coimisiún na Meán’s Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy makes clear, the involvement continued.
LGBT Ireland welcomed the creation of Coimisiún na Meán and expressed their confidence that ‘there is a new tool that the government can use to institute new media guidelines protecting LGBTI+ identities’. Coimisiún na Meán appears to be taking the Strategy seriously: its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion webpage features the logos of two organisations that promote gender identity. Both the Open Doors logo and the ‘Investors in Diversity Bronze’ award signal the adoption of gender identity theory.
LGBT Ireland seem particularly anxious to shut down platforms that allow ordinary people to express their views. In feedback to the broadcasting regulator, they complained, for example, about the letters page of The Irish Times and radio talk shows stating that ‘it is in the talk show debates that things unravel’. Liveline has not covered the topic since June 2022.
What makes the situation in Ireland even worse is that complaints about the destruction of broadcasting freedom are pointless, because the agency responsible for upholding impartiality is the same agency involved in the National LGBTI+ Inclusion Strategy (Coimisiún na Meán). The fact that the National Union of Journalists is affiliated with the Irish Congress of Trade Union - which is also a participant in the Strategy - makes the situation even worse. The avenues for complaint are effectively closed.
Today, with a thriving online culture full of interviews featuring people with diverse views on gender identity, audiences are no longer limited to getting their news from Irish broadcasting outlets or the national public service broadcaster. However, it is deeply disappointing to see the Irish broadcasting sector’s humiliating capitulation to a lobby group that promotes the contested theory of a scientifically unfalsifiable, invisible, soul-like gendered self. Adoption of this theory has far-reaching implications for women’s rights, for single-sex spaces such as prisons, sports, and changing rooms, and for children’s well-being and mental health.
Coimisiún na Meán and RTÉ must remember that the independence granted to them by law is not theirs to give away.
NOTE: Coimisiún na Meán is currently running a public consultation process on Public Service Media – click here to read more and to express your views.
writes on Substack and her X (Twitter) handle is @ColetteColferImage credit: chandan chaurasia, unsplash
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