Documents released to Nuacht RTÉ by the Irish Film Board under the Freedom of Information Act clearly indicate that the director of the controversial documentary on the poet Cathal Ó Searcaigh in Nepal had no prior knowledge of the allegations that were to be the subject of Fairytale of Kathmandu.
When the film-makers, Vinegar Hill, revealed that they had uncovered serious allegations about Mr Ó Searcaigh RTÉ suggested that they would need to return to Nepal to interview additional young men, in the company of a relevant aid agency, in order to verify these allegations.
They were given additional funding of €72000 (paid jointly by RTÉ and the Irish Film Board) to travel to Nepal once more.
When RTÉ Assistant Commissioning Editor, Eddie Doyle, raised questions about editing out of sequence, the documentary's producer, David Rane, replied that they were making a documentary not 'a piece of journalism.'
Over 600 hundred pages of emails and other relevant documents were released to Nuacht.
They indicate clear tensions between the film company and its funders over the editing of the programme.
At one stage the director of the documentary Neasa Ní Chianáin said that she felt that she had been 'compelled to defame' Mr Ó Searcaigh by RTE.
The filmmakers also said that the interviews with the young men in Nepal and the confrontational interview with Mr Ó Searcaigh were only included 'at the behest' of RTÉ.
RTÉ flatly denied this allegation and said that it wanted to ensure that the story was told in a responsible way and that serious allegations could be verified.
There was tension also between RTÉ and Vinegar Hill regarding the length of the programme and RTE were worried that they would be accused of 'sitting on their hands' if there was any delay in airing such allegations of serious wrongdoing.
RTÉ questioned the wisdom of showing the documentary to Cathal Ó Searcaigh before it was broadcast.
