Cork County Council to write to Minister over decision to reduce Oldies and Irish airtime 

THE first appearance of former RTÉ presenter Ryan Tubridy behind the microphone, on a radio show being broadcast from London and relayed on Cork’s 96FM prompted a barrage of criticism from members of Cork County Council.

The councillors were concerned that the new show was halving the airtime of one of the station’s most listened to shows, Oldies and Irish, presented by Derry O’Callaghan.

Councillors were loathe to express animosity towards the former Late Late Show presenter who left RTÉ last summer but there was strong support for a proposal aired by Cllr Anne-Marie Aherne, who said the decision to halve the airtime of Oldies and Irish had sparked an “outcry” among listeners.

Many of her council colleagues echoed her sentiments when she said she had been inundated with complaints from her constituents about the decision.

“I’ve nothing against Ryan Tubridy, he’s great for books and writing and whatnot — a great supporter of that.

“But — look — coming from Cork, it’s Derry O’Callaghan and everyone present is a listener.

“I would like that his time was fully reinstated,” she said.

'They should look at this again'

County Mayor Cllr Frank O’Flynn said that Derry O’Callaghan had a huge following, and he especially liked to listen to him after coming from Mass when he would read his Sunday papers.

“They should look at this again, and I second your motion,” he said.

“Quite a lot of people listen to him and look forward to it — Derry is renowned. He has a tremendous show, which appeals to all ages.”

Cllr Ian Doyle said that the four hours of the show each Sunday morning had featured predominantly Irish artists.

“They relied on that station to promote their music,” he said, adding that promoters of charity events around Cork had also relied on the show to promote their fundraising shows.

He specifically mentioned the dances run by Cllr Michael Looney, at Berrings, and Cllr John Paul O’Shea, at Laharn Cross.

Letter to management 

It was agreed to write a letter to the management of Cork’s 96FM to voice the strong preference of the council for the reinstatement of the full four hours of Oldies and Irish, while Cllr John O’Sullivan secured agreement for a letter to be sent to the Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan.

“The local broadcasting licence is for the provision of local content to local areas, and I’m very concerned that — if this precedent starts — that we will have programmes streamed in from London, from New York, from Australia, and that the local content and the purpose of local broadcasting on local radio will be affected,” he said.