RTÉ has apologised for a promotional tweet made by religious affairs radio show ‘The God Slot’ that asked, “Can gays be cured of being gay?”.

The tweet, posted from The God Slot’s official Twitter account, was widely criticised as being offensive and was subsequently removed.

The administrator of the account initially defended the tweet, posting, “We’re posing a question that has been posed. Listen to the programme before judging.”

The tweets lead to hundreds of angry followers voicing their outrage online.  One follower tweeted, “Memo to @GodSlot – Posing a loaded question inferring being gay is an illness is the offensive part – Not discussing (discredited) ‘therapy'” while another said “Any chance of @rte doing a show about how to cure witches by burning them? #godslot“.

RTE soon apologised for the offensive tweet made from the @TheGodSlot account, tweeting “Apologies if offended by a promo for @TheGodSlot tomorrow night. The contributor refutes the value of any conversion therapy for gay people.”

Gay conversion therapy will be discussed on The God Slot tonight at 10PM on RTE Radio 1.