The BBC has refused to apologise for an anti-Irish tweet by presenter Danny Baker in the aftermath of the Boston bombing last April.
Social media website TheDrum.com reports that the British broadcaster has defended the tweet on Baker’s personal Twitter account.
Baker’s tweet read: “Disgusting news from USA. Tragically, in 70s & 80s you couldnt drink in many Boston bars without putting money into a bucket for ‘the cause’.”
One complainant to the BBC accused the well-known presenter of tarnishing the dead.
The website reports that the tweet received 690 retweets but also prompted an angry response on the social network. Some respondents claimed the presenter had ‘unnecessarily and insensitively connected the bombing to the Irish Troubles’.
Another complainant told the BBC that the tweet was anti-Irish and offensive as Boston has a large Irish Diaspora population but was told by the broadcaster that there was no issue.
The BBC responded: “I understand you were unhappy with a tweet Danny posted online a couple of hours after the Boston bombings as you found this to be disgusting.
“This was simply a topical observation about Boston in the wake of the news of the bombing in the city, which Danny himself termed as “disgusting.”
The BBC respondent prefaced this observation with the use of the word ‘tragically and said: “We would refute any suggestion that this was anti- Irish or otherwise intended to tarnish the dead or injured, nor do we believe that it did so.
“This is Danny’s personal account and as such isn’t regulated but we’ve passed your comments on to the relevant editorial staff.”
The report adds that Baker did not respond to any of the replies to his tweet and has made no apology.
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