Chai Brady
The Referendum Commission has refused to answer queries about a senior member of a company assisting with their referendum information campaign, who tweeted that bishops were “hypocritical old eunuchs”.
Dylan Cotter, the Executive Creative Director of BBDO Dublin, linked an article about a pastoral message Bishop Kevin Doran had sent to parishioners, which stated that if abortion was legalised it could lead to euthanasia being made legal in Ireland.
Commenting on the pro-life message he said: “Hypocritical old eunuchs talking s**** about the rights of independent young women does a lot more to pave the way for euthanasia to be honest.”
The advertising company BBDO Dublin is tasked by the Referendum Commission to help run an impartial media campaign aiming to promote voter turnout and inform the public about what they’ll be voting on in the upcoming referendum on abortion.
The Commission refused to answer questions about the tweet but said: “The Referendum Commission will provide an accurate, independent and neutral account of the referendum proposal as per its remit which is set out in law.”
“Decisions on the content of information material including advertisements and statements are made solely by the commission, which is independent in the performance of its functions. No decisions are made on behalf of the Commission by its service providers,” a spokesman said.
Attempts to contact Mr Cotter through BBDO Dublin were directed back to the Referendum Commission’s spokesperson.