This article is from page 20 of the 2008-09-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 20 JPG
THE Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) has dismissed allega- tions that it has been turning a blind eye to breaches of it’s code of practice regarding advertising on Clare FM. The commission received a number of complaints from former Clare FM employee, Tommy Kelly, earlier this year in which Mr Kelly alleged that the station was consistently exceed- ing the 10 minutes of advertising al- lowed per hour by the BCI.
A letter sent to Mr Kelly by the BCI earlier this year stated that a number of breaches had been uncovered.
“Our review of the programme logs from the dates highlighted by you has indicated that Clare FM has operated in breach of the 10-minute hourly limit on a number of occasions last August,” read the letter.
“Our subsequent discussions and exchange of correspondence with the station also show that a misinterpre- tation of the sponsorship regulations contributed to these breaches.
“The station has confirmed that a new process has been put in place to address these issues and the com- mission will monitor progress in this regard over the coming months.”
Despite this however, Mr Kelly be- lieves that Clare FM have continued to breach the 10 minute per hour rule and has also accused the BCI of turn- ing a blind eye to the situation.
“T brought this to the BCI in August of last year and after much delay they came back to me last April,” said Mr Nhe
“T have continued to check Clare FM following this incident and they have continued to breach this. I don’t know are the BCI implementing this law at all or are they willing to turn a blind eye to this law.”
A spokesperson from the BCI told