Newstalk hits back at Dunphy’s ‘false and malicious’ claims

BOSSES at Newstalk radio have hit back with a scathing retaliation against departing presenter Eamon Dunphy after he claimed management interference in his editorial freedom forced him to quit his weekly show on the radio station.

Newstalk chief executive Frank Cronin accused the outspoken broadcaster of making “outrageous” and “false and malicious” allegations about the station because he was disgruntled about a pending pay cut.

Mr Dunphy, believed to have been paid €100,000 a year for his two-hour weekly programme, used his final show on Sunday to attack station owner Denis O’Brien, whom, he said, “hates journalism”.