Mission to Prey

Mission to Prey
Genre	"Undercover journalism"
Created by	RTÉ News
Starring	Aoife Kavanagh
Country of origin	Ireland
Release
Original network	RTÉ One
Original release	23 May 2011
Chronology
Related shows	Prime Time The Frontline
External links
Website

"Mission to Prey" is the title of an episode of the RTÉ programme Prime Time Investigates broadcast in May 2011. It falsely accused an Irish catholic priest in Kenya of having fathered a child. It was described as "one of the gravest editorial mistakes ever made" in the history of RTÉ broadcasting.

In January 2011 reporter Aoife Kavanagh and producer Mark Lappin, on a research trip to Kenya, believed they had found evidence of a sexual scandal involving Fr. Kevin Reynolds, an Irish Catholic priest. Their sources accused Fr. Kevin Reynolds of raping a teenage girl and fathering her child in Kenya. The (alleged) mother of the child verified these allegations. After a second research trip by the two, the executive producer of Prime Time Investigates, the editor of current affairs, and the Managing Director of News all agreed to broadcast the programme. A later investigation identified their actions as "groupthink" - all members of the team responsible for the broadcast believed that Father Reynolds was guilty. The RTÉ legal department also vetted the program and, despite misgivings, agreed with broadcasting the programme. An offer by Father Reynolds to carry out a paternity test was ignored by the RTÉ team.

The programme caused uproar across Ireland when the truth was later revealed. As a result of the broadcast, Fr. Reynolds was removed from his home and from his parish ministry and his reputation was destroyed. It subsequently emerged that the allegations were baseless and that RTÉ had therefore defamed Fr. Kevin Reynolds. Director-General of RTÉ Noel Curran admitted the broadcasting of "Mission to Prey" was "one of the gravest editorial mistakes ever made" in RTÉ's history.

Prime Times Investigates was initially suspended as a result of the scandal and it was later announced that the program would be terminated and replaced with a different investigative program. The fact that such damaging material could be aired on the national television network without adequate prior fact-checking caused a political scandal in Ireland, and the Irish government ordered a government inquiry into the matter (one of four separate investigations into the broadcast). RTÉ's managing director of news Ed Mulhall and current affairs editor Ken O'Shea were replaced by Cillian de Paor and Steve Carson respectively. Ed Mulhall retired, while O'Shea and others connected with the program were later assigned to other duties in RTÉ. In November 2011, the head of the Irish Missionary Union had said Kavanagh's continuing presence on Morning Ireland after being found guilty of defaming Fr. Kevin Reynolds was "unfair and unjust" and a demonstration of "double standards" in the media. However, Kavanagh waited the six months until the formal investigation report was published and resigned on the day that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's report was issued in May 2012.

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