Campaigners slam iconic Irish TV show after anti-cycling rant

Iconic Irish TV programme the Late Late Show has been slammed by cycling campaigners following an anti-cycling rant during Saturday evening’s transmission.

One guest on this week’s programme, an institution on TV in the Republic of Ireland since it was first broadcast by RTE in 1962, likened cyclists to “farm animals.”

Another compared cyclists to “trash.”

Dublin Cycling Campaign has now lodged an official complaint to regulators over comments of guests Maura Derrane and James Kavanagh in the segment, and against the show’s host, Ryan Tubidry.

Derrane, who also works at RTE, had said: “I like cycling, but one thing that really bothers me is three or four cyclists abreast ... on a country road where there's no need.

"Because I mean, are you in competition with a car? You're never going to be faster, and it's almost to piss people off that they do it. I know that."

In their complaint, Dublin Cycling Campaign said the comments made in the show were in contravention of Principle 5 of the Code of Programme Standards of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, which says “programme material shall not stigmatise, support or condone discrimination or incite hatred against persons or groups in society.”

They added:  “We also expect the Late Late Show to broadcast a public apology on its next show and counter the misinformation that it broadcast, specifically about the issue of cycling two abreast which is perfectly legal behaviour on Irish roads.”