War of words over threat to one of country’s most successful radio stations

AS Eamon Dunphy and Pat Kenny prepare to go head-to-head in a battle for viewers on Friday night, a war of words has broken out over the threat to one of the country’s most successful community radio stations.

Radio Kilkenny faces the threat of being knocked off the air within a month.

Yesterday, station bosses told a local senator to stop trying to make a political football out of the matter at this late stage.

The station’s board chairman, Cllr Joe Reidy (FF), has told Fine Gael senator, Fergal Browne, he rejects the attempted outside interference just weeks before the station is threatened with closure.

The Carlow senator argued that shareholders in Radio Kilkenny be made fully aware of the reasons for its appeal to the Supreme Court, as well as its legal advice on the matter.

Radio Kilkenny is due to go off the air on September 30 after over a decade on the air. It has been broadcasting across counties Kilkenny and Carlow for 13 years, but lost its licence to a new consortium headed up by one of the former heads of the station. The station challenged a ruling by the BCI which awarded a new licence to the commercial consortium last October. But it lost its High Court appeal and now intends going to the Supreme Court. Senator Browne wants a meeting of all 3,200 shareholders to take place as soon as possible.

He also wants the legal advice given to the board of directors to be published, as well as the legal basis for taking the case to the Supreme Court and any possible case going forward to the European Court of Justice.

“I am concerned the Board of Radio Kilkenny is not acting in a consultative manner with shareholders. A meeting with shareholders would allow the full facts of the case to be considered,” he said.

But last night, the board chairman said he resents the outside interference in the co-operative. “The board questions Senator Browne’s intentions and wonders whose bidding he is actually doing. He has never shown any interest in the affairs of our community-owned radio and he has offered no support at any stage in our fight to save the station.

“The financial implications of our appeal were outlined to shareholders at the AGM and the board has no intention of publishing either costs or legal opinion in the media, as demanded by Senator Browne. This is a matter for the board and shareholders only,” he said.