Dublin MEP Barry Andrews has said that Irish media coverage of the European Parliament is “very limited” and it is a problem given that democracy is in “recession” across the world.
Directly criticising RTÉ, he said: “I think that there’s major coverage in RTÉ of the European Council and the European Commission, but not of the European Parliament.”
Mr Andrews linked that absence of media coverage with low turnouts in the European Parliament elections, the next of which is slated for May of next year.
He contended: “We will all be wondering why nobody turned-up [and] why did we vote for certain types of anti-EU MEPs who take very strange positions on EU affairs.”
The Dublin MEP added: “I think we need to have a more honest discussion around how we cover these issues.”
He was speaking at an event in Dublin, ahead of the State of the Union address to MEPs next Wednesday in Strasbourg, by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
Mr Andrews said that Irish people are “very pro being members of the European Union” but he predicted that the turnout for the European Parliament elections will be “very low.”
He said: “Being pro-EU doesn’t mean that you are pro-European Parliament, and I think we have to make that distinction.”
His critique of Irish media coverage of the European Parliament was backed by Eileen Culloty, an Assistant Professor at DCU’s School of Communications and an expert in online disinformation.
The event was organised by the European Movement Ireland, the European Commission office in Ireland, and the European Parliament office in Ireland.