Political commentator John McGuirk
Political commentator John McGuirk mistakenly stated Éirigí was responsible for the murder of journalist Lyra McKee on a March 2 episode of Prime Time.
The New IRA claimed responsibility for the murder in Derry’s Creggan estate after the brutal April 2019 killing.
Mr McGuirk, who is the editor of news website Gript, also claimed on air that Éirigí “endorses terrorism”.
The statement was corrected by Miriam O’Callaghan at the end of the show and a public apology was furnished. The broadcaster agreed to pay the funds to charity.
RTÉ has made payments of €10,000 towards a Lyra McKee investigative journalism training bursary, €5,000 to the Capuchin Day Centre and €5,000 to Inner City Helping Homeless.
RTÉ agreed to make another apology, to remove from the RTÉ Player the defamatory comments, and to upload the full apology to the player, and agreed to pay Éirigí’s legal fees.
An RTÉ spokesperson said: “On March 2 last we broadcast an item about the protests held in Dublin City centre the previous Saturday.
“One of our live contributors wrongly said that the political party Éírigí was responsible for the shooting of a journalist and endorses terrorism in Northern Ireland.
“We corrected that statement on the night and have been asked by Éírigí to clarify that it is an open, registered political party that has never been involved in shooting a journalist and does not support violence.
“We are happy to do so and apologise sincerely for what was said.”
The statement noted the “claims were completely untrue” and added the apology was “part of a wider settlement that has now been reached between Éirigí and RTÉ”.
There is no evidence to suggest Éirigí has ever been a terrorist organisation.
