Unions at RTÉ have warned the broadcaster’s board that if the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) is taken from its control, it will “be undermining its own strength and place in Irish society”.

Staff at RTÉ say they expect to meet with management to discuss methods of plugging a €50m deficit in its finances.

A leading journalist in the North told a court today she was not prepared to put herself under sentence of death from the Real IRA by handing information to the police about the terrorists’ murder of two soldiers.

Laws compelling ministers to disclose information to the public have corroded the process of Government, it was claimed today.