In January 2011 reporter Aoife Kavanagh and producer Mark Lappin, on a research trip to Kenya, believed they had found evidence of a sexual scandal involving Fr.
After a second research trip by the two, the executive producer of Prime Time Investigates, the editor of current affairs, and the managing director of News all agreed to broadcast the programme.
A later investigation identified their actions as "groupthink" – all members of the team responsible for the broadcast believed that Father Reynolds was guilty.
[3][6] RTÉ's managing director of news Ed Mulhall and current affairs editor Ken O'Shea were replaced by Cillian de Paor and Steve Carson respectively.
[7] In November 2011, the head of the Irish Missionary Union had said Kavanagh's continuing presence on Morning Ireland after being found guilty of defaming Fr.
[4] Justice Minister Alan Shatter initially supported "Mission to Prey" after it was broadcast in May 2011, and released a public statement of praise after it was aired, which he later retracted.
Kevin Reynolds, the family of a deceased Christian Brother, accused by RTÉ in the same Mission to Prey programme of having abused children, asked that his name also be cleared.
After the High Court found that the accusations were baseless and defamatory RTÉ were forced into apologizing to Fr Reynolds and paying substantial damages.
[7] RTÉ staff, including Mike Murphy, John Bowman and Sean O'Rourke, publicly criticised the serious libel.