King Charles III coronation: ​RTE defends four hour coronation broadcast after criticism from opposition TDs

Leo Varadkar stressed that the model of constitutional monarchy is backed by a majority of people in the United Kingdom as he responded to criticism levelled by two socialist TDs in the Dail parliament in Dublin.Paul Murphy and Richard Boyd Barrett from People Before Profit-Solidarity both raised concerns that RTE One is devoting four hours of televised coverage of Saturday’s events in London.

Mr Murphy branded the monarchy an institution built on “racism, privilege and empire” and claimed the coronation was a “very obvious attempt to rehabilitate that institution”.

“Some republicans are saying that they are going to attend this coronation on the grounds of reaching out to the unionist community,” PA reported him saying.

“We think it is perfectly possible and necessary to build a united socialist movement of working-class people from a Catholic background, Protestant background, and a non-religious background, not on the basis of this sort of anachronistic and hated institution, but on the basis of the interests of ordinary people and the need for a socialist Ireland in a socialist world.

“Even in Britain only 29% of people think that the monarchy is very important, it’s an increasingly unpopular institution.

“But, yet, if you turn on RTE on Saturday, you’re going to be treated to four hours of the coronation.”

Mr Boyd Barrett stressed that southern Ireland is a republic and that its citizens don’t believe in kings, monarchs, inherited power and privilege. While he welcomed the peace arising from the Good Friday Agreement, he did not believe this extended to an uncritical approach to a coronation – something that he said most European royalty have abandoned.

“Yet this weekend, we are going to have huge amounts of public money in Britain spent on this coronation, an insult to huge numbers of people living in poverty in Britain,” he said.

However RTE firmly defended the news value of the event.

"The coronation of Britain's King Charles is a global news story, being attended by world leaders,” a spokeswoman told the News Letter.

“RTÉ will be providing live coverage to viewers, adding context and analysing the significance of this event for the UK and the impact it may or may not have on this island. The live coverage, during an off-peak time in the TV schedule this Saturday morning is being supplied from a world TV feed of the event free of charge."

After the Queen's death last year the Irish foreign minister said she "managed to charm an entire country" during her historic state visit to the Republic of Ireland. Simon Coveney said many Irish people saw her with "new affection" after she became the first UK monarch to visit the country in May 2011.

East Belfast DUP MLA David Brooks said the decision by RTE reflected what was simply an international news event.

“The Coronation will not just be watched by people across the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth, but all around the world," he said. "RTE’s coverage is simply a reflection of the significance of an event which most people will not have seen happen in their lifetime before."People in Northern Ireland demonstrated what they thought of People Before Profit’s crass comments on both the death of Prince Phillip and the late Queen. It’s unlikely many in the Republic will take notice of their comments around the Coronation. The viewing figures for the Coronation will bear that out.”

Meanwhile, People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll has slammed police plans to crackdown on people protesting the coronation of King Charles. He described the Met Police’s warning of “swift actions” against those planning to protest the event as an “attack on democracy. The state response to coronation protests has been utterly draconian,” Mr Carroll said.

The TUV, UUP, Sinn Fein and SDLP were also invited to comment.