rhetoric" and identified twelve far-right groups, including the Iona Institute, that had experienced growth in recent years. The Iona Institute was included due to its anti-LGBT+ stances. RTÉ payment controversy (a.k.a. "Pantigate") On 11 January 2014, the Iona Institute said it was defamed when accused of homophobia by the performer and gay rights activist Rory O'Neill in an interview on the Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) Saturday Night Show. A payment of roughly €85,000 was made by RTÉ to the Iona Institute and John Waters as part of an out of court agreement. All the litigants from the Iona Institute rejected a right of reply in favour of the payment. Breda O'Brien described a right of reply offer as "completely inadequate". RTÉ's TV director said "Senior counsel was consulted and confirmed that the legal position was far from clear." The payment caused a controversy, with the Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte, and Senators David Norris and Ivana Bacik demanding the reasoning for the payment and in the region of 2000 people attended a protest at the payment. Senator Averil Power said seeking "to completely censor somebody else’s viewpoint by resorting to solicitors’ letters is ridiculous". MEP Paul Murphy said RTÉ's actions were censorship, and further described it as a "real attack on the freedom of speech". Senator Rónán Mullen said that the payments by RTÉ “were a welcome development in the cause of promoting a civil debate." In a Dáil discussion on the issue, TDs, John Lyons, Jerry Buttimer, Michael Colreavy, Clare Daly, Luke Flanagan, Mick Wallace and Catherine Murphy also criticised the payment. Then Taoiseach Enda Kenny said to Buttimer that he had no plans to make RTÉ "directly accountable" to the Dáil over the payments. The Index on Censorship commented on the incident, saying "If the Catholic right was more confident in its arguments, it wouldn't attempt to censor the other side". See also Christian right Pro Life Campaign Youth Defence References 2007 establishments in Ireland Think tanks established in 2007 Catholicism in Ireland Christian organizations established in 2007 Conservatism in Ireland Anti-abortion organisations in the Republic of Ireland Opposition to same-sex marriage Organizations that oppose LGBT rights Political and economic think tanks based in Europe Political advocacy groups in the Republic of Ireland Social conservatism Think tanks based in the Republic of Ireland