Complaints made to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, relating to the Claire Byrne Live Referendum special broadcast on RTÉ One in May have been rejected by the authority's compliance committee.
One complainant said that audience members who supported the 'No' side had been allowed to 'whoop and holler' over speakers for the 'Yes' side, leading to the 'No' side being afforded more airtime.
However the compliance committee rejected that complaint, saying that although it noted that audience participation was volatile at times, it was a live debate about an emotive issue and a robust debate was to be expected.
The committee said a wide range of views was explored and both side of the debate were given the opportunity to present various viewpoints.
A separate complaint related to the questioning of Dr Peter Boylan by a member of the audience was also rejected.
RTÉ has welcomed the decision, saying the programme gave an equitable and fair opportunity to both sides to express their views and the presenter consistently requested that speakers and audience show respect for each others point of view.
Meanwhile, a complaint concerning the Eoghan McDermott Show on RTÉ 2FM, relating to an interview with RTÉ's Director General Dee Forbes was upheld in part.
During the interview, Mr McDermott asked Ms Forbes 'whom she would like to kick in the testicles'.
The complainant found the comment offensive and discriminatory towards men and was of the view it promoted violence against men.
The BAI's compliance committee said it didn't feel the comment was unduly offensive or supported discrimination, but that the question and the specific wording used, i.e. the reference to kicking a man in the testicles was not justified. Therefore it upheld this element of the complaint in part.
RTÉ had said the question was posed during a regular feature on the show, had been posed to both male and female guests in the past and was intended to entertain.
The broadcaster said it never intended to cause offence but acknowledged offence had been caused in this instance and said it would take the feedback into account for future reference.
Another complaint made about an edition of the 6:1 news last January was upheld in part by the compliance committee.
The complaint by Michael McNamara referred to a report of court proceedings in which he was the defendant.
The complainant said the report presented information about the court proceedings but failed to mention details from the defence case or the fact that the he was acquitted of some charges.
RTÉ said the report was based on court copy received from a freelance journalist in the afternoon and that further copy was received at 6:23pm, too late for the report to be updated, but that full details were made available on the RTÉ website.
The compliance committee said it was mindful that the information in the short report was factually accurate at the time of preparation, but that it did not feel sufficient steps were taken to ensure the accuracy was adequate with regard to the circumstances at the time of broadcast and it up held the complaint in part.
Separately, a complaint about reports on the conflict in Gaza, broadcast on the RTÉ Six One News was rejected, with the committee saying the reports were objective and impartial.
