COMEDIAN MARIO ROSENSTOCK has called out what he said is a culture of “censorship” at RTÉ of its guests.

Rosenstock was speaking in an interview with Newstalk’s Anton Savage yesterday as part of his promotion for his new show.

Discussing satire and its place in media, Rosenstock said that despite an innate appreciation for satirical comedy in Ireland, there are now no satirists on television. He himself is now primarily constricted to the radio. 

The 55-year-old comedian had his own sketch show on RTÉ from 2012 to 2016.

Yesterday, Rosenstock highlighted previous comments from RTÉ’s Director General Kevin Bakhurst, where Bakhurst had described comedy as something that is hit and miss.

“Basically that was an admission of total defeat,” Rosenstock said. “I’d never heard a head of a TV station saying that before – that they actually gave up on making comedy.”

Asked why he thought satire was being erased from Irish television, he said he could only speculate, but, “I think one of the reasons they’re doing it is because RTÉ, for example, in my opinion, are financially compromised.

“I think they’re owned, in a sense, by the powers that be. I think there’s a quasi nod and a wink going, ‘listen, just don’t give us any trouble, and we’ll keep funding you into the next 15 years’.”

He continued: “I think there is a chilling effect on editors and broadcasters who go, ‘why would we bother annoying people? Don’t mention Palestine, will you? Don’t mention Israel, don’t mention Micheál Martin, whatever you do’.”

Rosenstock brought up The Late Late Show’s host Patrick Kielty recently speaking out on the show against censorship in the wake of American late night host Jimmy Kimmel’s temporary exit from air after a comment he made about murdered Republican activist Charlie Kirk. 

Kielty had said in Ireland, “we can promise you can say whatever the fuck you want” – but Rosenstock said yesterday that in the 23 times he had appeared on The Late Late Show over the years, he had been censored.

All comedians are vetted prior to appearing on the show, with the studio signing off on their prepared material. Rosenstock said that although there is sometimes a type of quality control, “there have been bits where they go, ‘we prefer if you wouldn’t actually. We don’t need that. It’s a no’.”

Asked if he was ending his relationship with the broadcaster by making these comments, Rosenstock said he wasn’t sure.

“I mean, who really cares anymore? You’ve got to say things at times. I just think if they don’t know already, well they should know, because everyone is censored on The Late Late Show,” he said.

He added that there is a quota for the number of Northern Irish guests that appear on the show and the guests are sometimes unfamiliar to the average viewer.

In a statement a spokesperson for RTÉ said: “Any suggestion that RTÉ or Kevin Bakhurst have given up on comedy is simply incorrect.

“RTÉ has clearly committed to comedy, most recently by appointing Mark Bignell as Commissioning Editor for Comedy following a public competition.”

Regarding suggestions of censorship on the Late Late Show, they said: “It is standard practice for researchers to have a discussion with guests ahead of their appearance on any chat show.”