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Updated 10pm
STATE BROADCASTER RTÉ has officially put roughly nine acres of land at its Montrose, south Dublin, headquarters up for sale for €75 million.
The land had previously been described in January as “under-utilised” by the broadcaster, which is struggling to balance its finances.
RTÉ’s financial position has been in serious decline for some time, forcing it to stop any investment in infrastructure and technology.
‘Project Montrose’, as the sale has been dubbed by selling agent Savills, comprises 8.64 acres adjacent to broadcasting headquarters.
The land “provides an incoming purchaser with the opportunity to develop a mid to high-end housing scheme of up to 500 units comprising a mix of apartments and houses” according to Savills.
RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes has defended the sale, saying it “does not represent a ‘bonanza’ or a ‘windfall’” for the broadcaster, and that funds raised will not be used reduce operational deficits.
“RTÉ has been operating with vastly reduced commercial and licence fee income, now in the region of €330m, compared to €440m in 2008, and has been under-investing in the organisation for nearly a decade now. That is unsustainable,” she said today.
The funds from the land sale will be used to invest in much-needed technology upgrades and in key digital infrastructure, to reduce debt levels, and to carry out other essential workplace improvements.
“RTÉ is playing catch-up in an industry and market that is evolving rapidly,” she added.
All told the sale will see roughly a quarter of the land owned by RTÉ (roughly 32 acres) changing hands.
“This area of Dublin is synonymous with exclusive high quality apartments and period houses, but supply has been limited due to the lack of appropriate development sites,” said Mark Reynolds, director at Savills, in announcing the sale.
Therefore, we see Project Montrose as a once in a generation opportunity to be part of a truly transformative development story in one of Dublin’s most affluent and fashionable areas.
For anyone serious about urban development not only in Ireland but in Europe, it doesn’t get better than this.
The site for sale also features a protected 19th century building, Mount Errol House, which is currently being used as office accommodation.
Union Siptu said it wants to see a “cooperative approach” to the changes.
Siptu Organiser, Graham Macken, said:
“While SIPTU representatives have concerns at the potential loss of any jobs we welcome the fact that the restructuring of the organisation will be carried out with the direct involvement of the RTÉ Trade Union Group. Decisions will be made following the necessary consultation, negotiation and agreement.
“It is accepted that any job losses resulting from this restructuring will only be achieved by voluntary means. There will be no compulsory redundancies.”
A series of independent reports commissioned late last year had indicated that the sale of the land represented “a valuable source of much-needed funding for investment”, according to the broadcaster.
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Disgraceful company, stole the entire game off of a smaller developer, then sued the original developer for copyright infringement to boot. Complete and utter w*****s
Not a bunch to be trusted.
They also trademarked the word “Candy” in Europe.
Didn’t know that.
And there was me about to post a happy comment, oh well expect the worst and you’ll never be disappointed.
used to play it, got to level 167 i think, never paid a thing cos… its rigged. you could be stuck on a level from repeated play in one sitting, come back 2 days later, clear it right away. they see you’ve not used it in a while, so let you move on again. Got bored of it then. Logged into recently and im back at level 1, think they revamped it or maybe they do that if you stop using it for 6 months.
If you have kids near this, don’t let them pay a cent.
Not with a barge pole! Remember Zynga.
Bain of my life
I heard chuck norris just made it to level 587,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. He is halfway to completing the game.
On level 421 and I never have & never will pay a cent to play! :-)
Level 500 is impossible. I really don’t think it’s possible without buying extra moves or help. It’s the very last level so if you wanna finish the game you’ll have to pay up.
Level 500… Seriously, it’s driving me insane at level 86…
Got past it and on 508 now. There are no last levels, it goes on and on and on, taunting me to keep going or fail!!! Aaaah!!
No. Level 500 is the last level in Candy crush saga unless it haven’t done an update.
Dam it! Just updated it. Not on the last level anymore. Dam you Candy Crush!!
Passed level 500 yesterday after a month . Nightmare level
Hahahahaha, see it never flucking ends!! It’s a diabolical plot!!
My secret shame…..not so secret anymore :((
Feel rather sorry for guy who made Candy Stripe, which King blatantly ripped off and netted loss of earnings as result.
You can still get the original Candy Stripe on Play store.
413 million profits with 12.5% tax! That’s over 51 million to the exchequer. thanks candycrush……… or not?
93 million people with their heads down tutting!!
…mind you, it seems like a little more of a realistic valuation
They’re not giving a valuation as far as I can see though, unless their multiplier is about 1.2 in which case barge pole distance is about as close as private investors are ever likely to get! They’ve just said how much they plan to raise, but no indication of market cap in this article. If the valuation is right they’ll get plenty of interest, lots of m&a in the industry so plenty willing to have a punt in the hope a tech giant might move for them down the road.
Good point(s).
If off to spend my money on cheap hookers so.
Always a sound investment! As long as the return doesn’t involve a trip to James’ of course!
have your say