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PRESENTERS ON LYRIC FM and station listeners have reacted in shock online today to new speculation that RTÉ is considering the future of the station.
On last night’s Prime Time, it emerged that the programme understands RTÉ is in talks about “cutting deeply into areas it is legally obliged to deliver” and is “considering the future of Lyric FM”. This is due to RTÉ’s ‘unprecedented’ financial situation.
The station, which is 20 years old this year, is based in Limerick. There was no RTÉ spokesperson available for last night’s Prime Time episode and the station did not confirm that it is considering Lyric FM’s future.
However, due to Prime Time’s statement presenters on the station reacted in shock today to the news.
Liz Nolan, who presents The Full Score on Lyric, tweeted today calling for a show of support for the station on social media:
She described the Prime Time news as “a profound blow” to public service broadcasting.
In response to Nolan’s tweet there was an outpouring of support from fans of the station.
Dr Laura Watson / TwitterAmong other things, @RTElyricfm #LyricFM helps democratise classical & contemporary music in Ireland via regular broadcasts from @NCH_Music and elsewhere. It's valuable public service, especially in a country where arts & music education are really underfunded.
— Dr Laura Watson also on bsky.app (@lauracwatson) September 13, 2019
LaetareVocalEnsemble / TwitterLyric FM is a crucial outlet for a wide range of music genres in Ireland and we fully support its fantastic work - it is a true public service and enriches Irish culture immeasurably. It is an essential part of Ireland's cultural landscape: we need it. https://t.co/POqqFWHZIZ
— LaetareVocalEnsemble (@laetaredublin) September 13, 2019
RTÉ, which has 1,800 employees, produces much of its own content – but it emerged last weekend that it is experiencing unprecedented financial difficulties.
In a letter to staff, RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes said that although the decision by the Government to tender for TV licence collection services was welcome, the decision to defer implementation of a revised media charge system “means that the crisis in the funding of public service media will continue”.
“And with reform now pushed out further, RTÉ’s capacity to deliver against its existing remit is severely compromised,” Forbes added in the letter.
She told staff that “it will no longer be possible to continue as we are” due to the fact that commercial revenues and public funding are both “significantly below” what is needed to operate RTÉ in its current form.
The RTÉ Executive and the RTÉ Board have been assessing everything the broadcaster does and what it can continue to do into the future, Forbes said.
Prime Time said it understands that RTÉ is also looking at the future of a wide range of other services which could be cut.
On the agenda is cutting the salaries of the biggest stars at RTÉ, with the RTÉ trade union suggesting a pay ceiling of €250k for each star, said Prime Time.
On last night’s Prime Time was Minister Pat Rabbitte, who said that “RTÉ has been making hard choices for some considerable time”.
It now receives €100m less in revenue than it received in 2008 at the time of the Celtic Tiger crash.
“It’s not a trivial issue of whether RTÉ can sell off more land, whether it can close Lyric,” said Rabbitte.” I mean, that would be an outrage, frankly, and as Cillian Fennell [of Stillwater Communications, also on Prime Time] said, is not going to provide a solution in the complex world we live in today.”
RTÉ Lyric FM attracts 273,000 listeners on a weekly basis, while RTÉ 2FM reaches 839k of adults aged 15+ and RTÉ Radio 1 has a weekly reach of over 1.3million. Aodán O Dubhghaill, head of RTÉ Lyric FM, said that the recent JNLR figures “[confirm] the place that quality classical music has for audiences on the island of Ireland. As we celebrate 20 years on air, we at RTÉ lyric fm are honoured to be the broadcast custodians of that important music tradition.”
TheJournal.ie asked RTÉ if it could comment on the speculation over Lyric FM’s future.
In a statement, it said:
RTÉ remains committed to meeting the ever-changing needs of Irish audiences and to securing the future of public service media in Irish life. We are mindful of RTÉ’s central role in reflecting who we are as a people and a nation and where we are going, a role that is more important now than ever. However, with commercial revenues and public funding both significantly below what is needed to operate the organisation in its current form, it is no longer possible to continue as we are.
It is in this context that we are currently finalising a review of everything we currently do and what we can continue to do in the future and we expect to be in a position to share details in the coming weeks.
In a statement this evening, RTÉ’s Trade Union Group (TUG), which represents staff throughout RTÉ, said it has had no negotiations with management on any proposals.
“The TUG has received no information on measures being considered by the Director General and the Executive Board of RTÉ,” it said in a statement.
It added: “The TUG is firmly committed to the protection of employment, including in RTÉ Lyric fm, and Public Service Broadcasting.
“The TUG, constituent unions and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will continue to demand support from Government for the protection of Public Service Broadcasting in Ireland.”
- With reporting from Cónal Thomas
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What about the three tenders policy ?. Useless and old and then sold to an American who put it back in service immediately and it is still flying. Someone fooling someone here.
3 tenders? This aircraft was offered to anyone who would listen in the aviation world. There is quite an oversupply of ageing biz jets since the global recession most without the need of replacement landing gear.
Nobody wanted it as it is past it best before date a bit like the government that was selling it
It was on done deal earlier…..
Sounds cheap for a jet
It isn’t flying as it hasn’t got an air wortiness cert yet.
I’d live in it.
Clapped out. 500,000 is about right.
It’s very easy to Google other ones for sale. it flew to America less then a year ago let’s say repairs are 2 million(I’m not basing that on any info) now you go see what they are advertised for.
Richard links above once this airframe goes above 13,000 service hours it is a parts sale! Most will sell for 500,000 – 1.2 mil depending on repairs required and engines etc
Apparently it was bought by McDonagh Joyce Aerospace USA Inc. It’s a subsidiary of their Irish scrap metal business.
John Clarke, I’m sure there are no untoward links relevant to that piece of information, but I’m surprised no-one has at least suggested there might be. Journal.ie posters are slipping.
Getting one of a similar age would cost around €4 million.
Two questions,
Why would we buy one of a similar age
Why did we only get $500,000
Because it was broken
Repair bill is rumoured to be anywhere from 1-2.5 million!
Hers one for sale at $8,950,000
€460,000 wouldn’t even buy an engine for one.
http://www.avprojets.com/view_aircraft/613/Gulfstream_IVSP_SN_1477.html
With 8,000 less flying hours than the Irish Gulf Stream and no need for repairs or a full overhaul
Please Wayne this is not a Nissan Micra Cop on.
Actually principle is the same, here is one with 11,400 hours look at the price difference to your example! Or one with 14,000 hours! The air frame, engines and parts have a limited life span so much like a Nissan Micra the more miles the lower the price
I do know the difference between an A check and D check Wayne, Its nothing like a Nissan Micra believe me.
I do, but I also know the airframe flight time for this jet!
Anything wrong with members of the government and their advisor’s travelling in commercial flights?
Think hoi polli
They should,first class I’m sure would be cheaper than running a private jet.
Yes I guess there would be difficulties using commercial scheduled flights. Timing, availability, security, flexibility…… Etc.
Security? Really?
Simon, it’s good to see someone with a bit of sense.
Yes security, time and ability to work in private are other factors. These aircraft are also used for medical transfers for Irish citizens and transport for citizens in need of evacuation
I think important state issues should be discussed in the queue for the Ryanair seats so we can all listen in
Why not paid after all we the tax payer pay them for those decisions so it might be good for us to hear how those decisions are arrived at?
Your right and anyone else who feels like taking advantaged of commercially sensitive information!
congratulations on the dumbest comment go the day
Commercial sensitive information please give me a break and come back to the real world. Just as Enda demonstrated in fairness to him there is no need for every minister to have a ministerial car and driver. I think to be honest you just raised me on the dumbest comment of the day. Well done!!
Sure Kerry, the government never discusses commercially sensitive information!!! Are you really that childish
Then they’d be accused of wasting time. ..
Much like your display of ignorance in relation to the Aer corps assets for air ambulance and citizen evacuation, your comments display a complete lack of knowledge in relation to the topic.
You should look up warren buffets quite on his refusal to sanction the purchase of a corporate jet and his realisation of it’s benefits afterwards
Kerry,if you are flying a team of people to negotiations or meetings in Europe for instance would you rather they spend 3-4 hours hanging around airports and then scattered all over a 737 or put them straight onto a Gov jet where they can discuss the issues on hand?
Kerry, it has to be said… You’re a fool.
Paul you saying that I take as a compliment.
Wayne I was talking about the government jets not the Air corps so don’t change the goal posts to my question.
Kerry the governor jets are operated by the Aer corps, the Lear Jet is designed so it can be used as a medical transport for patients traveling for transplants etc. Where available the Lear jet is first choice for medical transfers.
Again your ignorance of the reality of the use of these assets is outstanding
That would be the lear jet grounded in the US for the last year Wayne? Come talk to me when your arrive in reality . Again I ask for proof these jets are used for medical transfers>
Kerry the Gulf Stream iv has been grounded in the US the Lear jet 45 is very much active and operating regularly from Baldonel! In fact Kerry the first line of the article clearly explains it’s a GulfStream iv that has been sold and sitting in the US since last June!!
I will try to make it simple for you, the Lear jet is our primary air ambulance transport, the GulfStream has been in the US since June and despite it’s capabilities, it’s extensive service since 1991 meant that in the last few years it’s airtime had been managed carefully to extend it’s service life
The Lear jet and the AW 139 make up 99.99% of medical flights the Cn235 is rarely used in this role
We currently operate a Lerjet45 primary roles
VIP transport and AIR AMBULANCE
One Brittan Norman defender Gardaí air support role
5 Reims 172!- surveillance
6 AW 139 Utility, troop transport VIP transport medivac and air ambulance roles
4 Ec 135 2 Garda and 2 Aer corps troop transport and observation air support
9 PC 9 ground support and training
2 CASA CN 235 Maratime patrol
Or is chartering not worth considering? A country the size of Ireland, and in it’s current financial state, needs to question very closely any justification for owning a corporate jet.
Not a bad price to get! Is the government included with that price?
No
It was €650,000 without Sinn Fein/IRA
Pity hey patrick?
Maybe Dennis might let inda have jaunt in his Gulfstream 650.
They said the jet was at the end of its life, so is the present government, our very own Con Air gang
Pity they didn’t take on Lubitz through Scambridge!!!
It will might be on discovery on airplane repo they missed a few payments on it Alan won’t give the keys to it
The austerity government sells another state asset. Thatcherite fascists.
It’s a broken down piece of shit! What do you propose we should have done with it?
Keep and maintain it with an over staffed and highly paid workforce…the same as they do with other useless state assets.
Either you green thumbed yourself with every mobile phone. laptop and tablet you have to hand or else there are 6 other idiots like you reading the Journal.
Not forgetting to ensure said staff get pay increments each and every year just for being there.
The air corps pilots get paid a fraction of what charter pilots earn so your argument is redundant
Aer corpps pilots make about 35% of what they would make in the private sector.
Fiannaoicht. You should really educate yourself and don’t be reading all your ill informed crap from the same loo paper!
If, and it is a big if, taxpayer’s money is spent on a new jet it MUST be a multirole aircraft.
It should be able to transport troops, disaster aid, military supplies, deportees – and not just Government butt.
It could also be used for medevac and as top cover for SAR helis if needed.
It will be expensive and lateral thinking is needed.
For instance the cost could come out of budgets for Defence, Foreign Affairs and Justice.
In 2003 the Govt did not go ahead with buying an Airbus ACJ319 type aircraft to replace the Gulfstream at a cost of $45m.
It would have been able to transport 100 soldiers on UN missions, 7 tons of equipment etc.
Today it costs $80m.
Gulfstream C-20G would make more sense. Military variant of the G4 that Air Corps pilots and technicians are already familiar with, less thirsty on fuel, can be outfitted for 3 pallets, 26 passengers (or some combination), air ambulance loadout, etc. CASAs do a fine job of top cover – their ‘slowness’ is actually a benefit in the role, and they can drop their rear ramp to deploy liferafts to survivors, unlike an ACJ.
Maybe but I believe there should be more emphasis on transport and less on MATS.
The Air Corps looked for a C-130 in 1998 but the then Defence Minister told me “the fuc.ing thing would be sitting on the ground for 364 days of the year”.
Since then a C-27j Spartan has been tested by the Defence Forces carrying armoured vehicles and Rangers prachuting from it.
Would love for our Air Corps to have a few more exciting aircraft, but I think CASAs are appropriate for the kind of transport we need. Armoured vehicles are just as easily driven anywhere else in the country, and UN deployments only happen a few times a year so chartering probably makes more sense for these.
Just FYI Denis’s G650 costs in the region of €50 million! So better hope it offers it for free because we as a country couldn’t afford to rent it because of ………Well people like Denis
Grounded while on EU business? No, grounded while in Florida during the summer,
Fyi, there is an article under the headline. You should try reading it
Not a single member of government accompanied the aircraft, it was flown to Florida for scheduled maintenance.
How long before there’s a new headline. Government spends €5 million on new government jet? What’s wrong with commercial business travel and chartering a private jet on the few occasions it’s actually required?
If they only spend 5 million on it pa it won’t be very new !!!!!!
What’s wrong with Ryanair or Aer Lingus?
Because neither can provide emergency air ambulance services for Irish citizens or have spare aircraft for emergency transport
So Wayne when was the last time either government jet was deployed as an air ambulance or used for emergency transport?
Kerry why don’t you try this great service called Google?
“The Air Ambulance completed its 100th journey of 2014 over the weekend”
http://www.thejournal.ie/air-ambulance-1784403-Nov2014/
Kerry Aer corps performed Air ambulance approx 110 that’s once every 3 days at different times in 2014, that figure and the Learjet was used to evacuate citizens from Lybia! So quite a lot more than your ignorance has lead you to think
Well said wayne, some folk are just so anti-government no amount of fact or figures will please them.
Again wayne I was asking about the 2 government jets not the Aer corps so again how often are the 2 government jets involved in air ambulance activities?
Kerry, I have tears rolling down may face at your comments!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Who so you think fly the government jets???
No tears from me Brian can you tell me how often either of the 2 government jets have been deployed as air ambulances or to rescue Irish citizens? Straight forward question can you answer it?
You really are an idiot Kerry. The government jets are run by the air corps
Straightforward answer was given to you an hour ago in the comments above but you abviously couldn’t be arsed reading it. Here it is again http://www.thejournal.ie/air-ambulance-1784403-Nov2014/ They do about 100 a year flown by the Irish Aer Corps. Now how hard is that to understand?
That report talks about a CASA CN235 which the Irish Air Corp uses I was asking about the government and its ministers which were using a Gulfstream IV So again I’ll ask how often was the Gulfstream used as an air ambulance?
Last year never bit the Lear jet was used in 85 separate occasions, for medical transfers, the rest were carried out by rotary assets of the Aer corps
The gulf stream was not used as it was sitting in a hanger awaiting repairs and the Aer corps were managing the limited flight hours available before it’s service was due
Both the Lear Jet and Gulf Stream are operated and managed by the Aer corps. Through their service life they have been used as medical transports on a weekly basis when available. Again Kerry when you are ignorant to the realities of the use of these assets it’s probably best to stop digging
Ah Wayne you have given vague claims about the use of the “government” jets but you have not provided proof?
Kerry, nothing vague about it the Lear jet and the Aw139 are the Aer corps primary Air ambulance assets. The
Swing by the Irish Aer corps Facebook page and you will see plenty of photographic evidence of the Learjet and Aw139′s being used for medivac including a photo of the Lear jet with medical transport set up
You might also learn about the extensive work our Aer corps do from
Mapping our territorial waters, to Maratime patrol, troop
Transport VIP transport medivac and all with less than 12% of our defence budget
It was the Lear that got the guys out of Libya and a chartered 737 – before I may add the Brits went in and got their guys.
Kerry in fairness your being a duck.
I’d give the air corps as many aircraft as they asked for. They use their assets to the best of the equipments abilities. Personally all politicians should be made to fly Ryanair.
But these aircraft save lives.
If you take the idiots in government out of the equation and give the air corps Pilatus P24′s in medivac/mil configuration they could do even more at a decent price per unit.
Wouldnt bother getting another Gulfstream, Rolls royce of the private jets (slight irony). Embraer are bigger and cheaper, so no worrys about who baggeds a lift
Quick some one mention the water charges and how many meters this would buy………
Ok I’m getting my coat….
Put in context the intrest on our national debt could build two one world trade Center towers in Dublin every year. Five hundred thousand euros is peanuts compared to the amount we owe.
I’ve an option for ye, fly economy like the rest of us, then ye can afford that lifesaving meningitis for the kids.
Did it ever dawn on you that flights to and from destinations may not fit in with Gov business at home or that meetings can go on for longer than expected and that it might not be able to get people back to business at home iin a short space of time? Then you would be on here whining about such and such a Minister not being at thheir desk or in the Dail.
then again what am I thinking when someone proposes that Gov employees travel economy so that we “afford that lifesaving meningitis for the kids.”
Really can’t see you becoming a transport manager or a doctor ant time soon.
Did you ever hear of on line conferences Brian? Mercedes did once they worked out the cost of flying the execs to the usa for conferences. Maybe our lot could save some money as well?
Kerry
Do you think these people want to travel, it’s a compete pain in the arse. I travel nearly every and the last think I want is to do more travel. If telecommunications was so effective why do so many businesses send their employees around the world on expensive flight and staying in expensive hotels?
Kerry again try the warren Buffet approach, he refused a corporate jet for 5 years, he now claims it was one of his biggest mistakes! He later went on to establish NetJets when he seen the benefits
Some things are best done face to face, there is a reason business class is big business for airlines, some things can not be done via conference call
It is a holiday?
You could say the same about anyone who goes on a holiday?
I am surprised that they did not donate the jet to Malta, just like they did with the naval vessel LÉ Aoife, despite receiving an offer of €500,000 from a third party. Now why did they give this vessel to Malta. Well, that is an easy one. Denis O’Brien is a tax exile resident in Malta and Simon Coveney is a friend of his and this will look well for O’Brien and improve his business profile in Malta…Fine Gael corruption
Or Malta is one of the busiest entry points for asylum seekers to the EU and it’s navy is stretched to breaking point to patrol the waters, and in an effort to actually do what the European UNION was designed to do we helped out neighbours and ourselves
Problem is Malta navy despite being stretched still dont want an old rust bucket
Good news story.
They better not buy another one.
Great news. This will really help lower our interest debt bill of 8 billion a year or so by a sizeable chunk. Now what else can we flog off?
How much sellers commission did Adverts.ie make on that successful sale?!
$500,000 thats a nice little bargain for one of enda corporate buddies.
The governments mile high club in other words lol.
GIV 14k + hrs, 25years old
$3M for cash
Someone screwed the pooch.
But agree with above should be replaced with a320neo or a pair of decent used C130′s
If there’s no leather in the back the ducks in government won’t use it and the boys serving will get decent aircraft to support them.
I can never understand why the media always referred to the Government Jet in the singular. While there were actually two Government jets
Now, what comment can I make about this that will show me to be morally and/or intellectually superior to the commenters above and below me. What a pretentious load of bogger loggers you are.
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