A live BBC News broadcast from Team Ireland’s Olympic homecoming event on Monday evening was cut short after a chorus of ‘Up the Ra’ chants from children were heard during the report.
The BBC Newsline report from Dublin reporter Aoife Moore was halted shortly after dozens of children in the background were observed singing the chant.
Team Ireland’s Olympic heroes, including many from the north, were welcomed home at the event on O’Connell Street on Monday.
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TUV councillor David Clarke said he was “shocked and appalled” by the broadcast of the chants during the broadcast, and has written to the Olympic Federation of Ireland to call for the organisation to distance itself from the incident.
“I appreciate that The Olympic Federation of Ireland could not control this event,” Mr Clarke said.
“However, it took place following an event to welcome home athletes, some of whom as noted above are from Northern Ireland which bore the brunt of the brutal IRA campaign which resulted in the murders of over 1,700 people and the maiming of thousands of others.
“I invite you to publicly distance The Olympic Federation of Ireland from what we saw tonight on the BBC and make clear that there is no place for the glorification of terrorism in sport.”
Kenny Donaldson, director of victims group the South East Fermanagh Federation (SEFF), described the chanting as “wrong” and “a form of psychological child abuse”.
A spokesperson for the BBC said it had “dealt quickly and effectively” with a “live broadcast situation”.
