Daniel O'Donnell makes appeal for charity set up by Andrew McGinley on Late Late after he was dropped from show

Andrew McGinley was due to talk about AsDarraghDid on the chat show last October but RTÉ pulled the interview after receiving correspondence from members of his wife’s family.

His children Darragh (7), Conor ( 9) and Carla (3) were killed by their mother, Deirdre Morley, in January 2020. She stood trial for murder but was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Since the tragedy, Mr McGinley has focused on establishing a charity to keep the memory of his children alive while also raising funds for local sports and community groups.

He was extremely annoyed by RTÉ’s decision not to allow him promote the charity on the Late Late Show, saying:” I feel there is something not right here. I just want to chat about the kids. And I feel I do need to speak about mental health in the hope that changes can be made,” he said.

While appearing on the show to mark his 60th birthday, Daniel O’Donnell spoke passionately about the charity work, saying he is happy to help Mr McGinley by hosting his first Irish concert of 2022 in June as a fundraiser for the charity at the McGinley’s former home town of Newcastle, Co Dublin.

“This is Andrew keeping the memory of his children alive,” he said, adding the tickets will be raffled off to raise funds for the charity.

“Our hearts go out to the family when this happened,” he said.

“And just to help this man and his grief,” he said.

“He’s a marvellous man to go ahead. I don’t know how he can get up every morning and take a step,” he added.

RTÉ displayed the charity’s website address on screen during the conversation.

Mr McGinley was told by RTE that his interview could not go ahead because the broadcaster received correspondence from some Individuals who said hearing him talk about the children could be too traumatic. RTE later confirmed the letter was from members of Ms Morley's family.

In a statement last month, RTÉ said it was following Broadcasting Authority Ireland (BAI) Codes and had explained its reasoning to Mr McGinley.

“RTÉ is obliged to adhere to BAI [Broadcasting Authority of Ireland] codes when dealing with such sensitive issues,” it said. “RTÉ spoke to Mr McGinley and also wrote to him a number of weeks ago explaining our reasons not to proceed with the planned interview on The Late Late Show on Friday, October 8.

“We have not commented on the specifics of our contacts with Mr McGinley. We have also respected the confidentiality of representations from other family members.

“RTÉ gave due consideration to all of this in light of our obligations under the relevant BAI codes and understand it is extremely sensitive.”