Band of support to keep Lyric FM live  in Limerick

LYRIC FM staff members have reportedly received “no details” on RTÉ’s plan to split the service between Cork and Dublin, a decision they say they “don’t understand”. 

Producer Eoin O’Kelly spoke to the Leader after Limerick City and County councillors convened an emergency meeting on Friday, November 15 to discuss RTÉ’s cost-saving plans to shut down the Cornmarket Square studio at the end of 2020. 

Mr O’Kelly said the staff is seeking to understand RTÉ’s proposal to relocate Lyric “because we don’t understand it. 

“We have no detail on it, no financial detail on it, so the more and more we look at it, the more we feel it doesn’t seem to stack up. As well as that reaction, there has been a lot of anger, and we have met it on the streets of Limerick.”

Twenty-three councillors across the city and county attended the meeting, which was tabled by Labour councillor Conor Sheehan and chaired by Mayor Michael Sheahan. 

Cllr Sheehan proposed a number of motions at the meeting, including that the council write to RTE director general Dee Forbes and ask her to publish a report outlining the rationale for their proposal and publish the minutes of the meeting when this decision was made. 

Cllr James Collins accused RTÉ of treating Lyric FM like “low-hanging fruit” and proposed that UL accommodate Lyric at its new city-centre campus. 

He is calling for the establishment of a cross-party sub-committee to meet with RTE and UL “so that we can play our part in formulating a rescue strategy”. 

Fine Gael councillor Jerome Scanlan suggested that the council offer RTE Lyric FM a site, and that the Granary library on Michael Street or Project Opera would be ideal locations.

Cllr Kieran O’Hanlon suggested that the full council “picket the next RTÉ board meeting”. 

Meanwhile, Lyric FM staff will reportedly be “forced to opt for voluntary redundancy” as they will not be able to afford the move to Cork or Dublin, the Dail has heard on Thursday in a debate chaired by Limerick TD Jan O’Sullivan.