Aoife Kavanagh is a former reporter and presenter for Raidió Teilifís Éireann and was at the centre of the Mission to Prey scandal that rocked the Irish national radio and television broadcaster in 2011. She resigned from RTÉ following the publication of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland statement of findings and the full report on the programme. Previously, she was a presenter of RTÉ flagship radio programmeMorning Ireland and a reporter with RTÉ television programme Prime Time Investigates. She, herself, made national news headlines in 2011 however when she was at the centre of a controversy surrounding the defamation of Fr. Kevin Reynolds in a documentary entitled Mission To Prey. Kavanagh alleged that during his time as a missionary in Kenya, Reynolds had raped and impregnated a minor named Veneraanda, fathering a child called Sheila. Kavanagh also alleged that Reynolds had secretly provided financial support to Sheila over a number of years. Reynolds volunteered to have DNA testing undertaken to prove his innocence but this offer was refused by RTÉ. The defamation of Fr. Kevin Reynolds led to the suspension of the Prime Time programme, prompted an investigation and led to interventions by politicians as senior as the then Taoiseach, Enda Kenny. The entire team involved in the programme, including the Managing Editor of News and Current Affairs, temporarily stepped aside from involvement in on-air programming to co-operate with the investigation.
Defamation and Resignation
In 2011, a defamation/libel suit was filed against RTÉ following Ms Kavanagh's report 'Mission To Prey' on Prime Time – about sexual abuse by Irish Catholic Missionary Priests in Africa, including one whereby the Priest was falsely accused of child-rape and fathering a child while a missionary in Kenya. The suit against the national broadcaster was settled for an undisclosed sum. RTÉ later broadcast an apology to Fr Kevin Reynolds. On 18 November 2011, the head of the Irish Missionary Union 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. RTÉ was fined €200,000 by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland as a result of the defamation of Fr Kevin Reynolds following what the BAI said were serious breaches of the Broadcasting Act 2009. The report found that "Second-hand repetition of gossip appears to have been treated as corroboration, as Ms Kavanagh did not appear to have met or questioned colleagues who according to the primary source, were aware of the allegations". Kavanagh resigned from RTÉ on 4 May 2012. She had previously been tipped as a replacement for Charlie Bird in the role of RTÉ's US Correspondent after he left the States. Director-General of RTÉNoel Curran admitted the broadcasting of "Mission to Prey" was "one of the gravest editorial mistakes ever made" at RTÉ.
