A listener to the Ronan Collins Show who complained that playing the Christmas hymn ‘O Holy Night’ was discrimination against non-Christians has had his complaint thrown out.

The male complainant told the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) that by playing the hymn on the RTÉ Radio 1 show on December 8, last year, the national broadcaster had stigmatised him and other non-Christians, inappropriately and unjustifiably, on the basis of religion.

He highlighted the lyrics “fall on your knees” which he said is disrespectful of human dignity and that to order someone to their knees amounts to an abuse of power.

He also stated that the lyric “and in his name all oppression shall cease” is inappropriate and unjustifiable, noting examples of historical oppression carried out in the name of Christianity.

The complainant accused the national broadcaster of actively condoning and sponsoring the lies, false promises, stigmatisation and abuse of power contained in the lyrics by repeatedly playing the hymn.

Rejecting the complaint, the BAI’s Executive Complaints Forum found “no basis” to believe that broadcasting the hymn “would cause harm” as it is characterised in the authority’s code of programming standards.