Fáilte Ireland intervened over filming permission for b The Traitors

Fáilte Ireland intervened after the Office of Public Works refused permission for the new season of hit TV show The Traitors to stage missions at prehistoric monuments at Knowth and Dowth in Co Meath.

The OPW said the plans were unsuitable for the highly sensitive sites and warned that a fictional portrayal of Dowth risked misrepresenting the monument.

In internal emails, heritage officials said using part of the Brú na Bóinne World Heritage Site for “creative storytelling” could undermine the OPW’s role in educating the public about Ireland’s ancient past.

One message said of Dowth: “This is a non-public, highly sensitive monument and the scale and nature of infrastructure proposed is not proportionate.”

The discussions took place earlier this year with heavily redacted records suggesting a compromise was explored that would allow Knowth to feature but with filming away from the protected monument area.

An application from The Traitors production team in February said they wanted to showcase the landscape of Ireland’s Ancient East.