The deputy director general of RTE Kevin Bakhurst took to twitter today to defend the station against incendiary comments by Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary.

The colourful Ryanair chief described RTE as a “rat-infested North Korean union shop” at a Fine Gael party fundraiser on Wednesday this week.

He also said gardaí who strike should be sacked, that private bus companies should take over any routes left unserviced in the event of a bus strike and that he “couldn’t turn on the bloody 9 o’clock news without having to see Ingrid Miley’s face giving me the latest spew from the Trotskyites and all the rest of it”.

The remarks were made at a Fine Gael breakfast event on Wednesday attended by Michael Noonan, Leo Varadkar, Simon Coveney and Richard Bruton.

The comments prompted a series of tweets today from the managing director of RTÉ News and Current Affairs Mr Bakhurst, in which he said he found the mention of Ingrid Miley, or any “attack” on an individual journalist, “extremely disappointing”.

He added: “RTÉ’s coverage of business leaders, unions and workers is wholly fair and even-handed” and; “Our coverage is based on the core principles of public service broadcasting-fairness, accuracy and impartiality.”