RTÉ talks on move to Cork's Counting House have 'broken down'

More than a year after  RTÉ Cork employees were promised new, state-of the-art studios and offices, co-location talks with Cork City Council have broken down.

The State broadcaster had been in discussions with City Hall about the possibility of leasing the upstairs portion of the Counting House complex on South Main St, with a view to relocating from Fr Mathew Street in the city centre.

Earlier this year, the City Council announced it had purchased the four-storey, 7,300sq m premises for €35m from contractors BAM, with a view to the complex becoming the new home for Cork City Library.

Negotiations between the council and RTÉ around the possibility of RTÉ Cork also operating from the complex hit the rocks after several months, with one source saying: “That’s not going to happen now”.

In May 2025, RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said RTÉ Cork was determined to move from its antiquated Fr Mathew Street home to a new, central location by 2027, with an increase to its current headcount of approximately 50 staff.

Addressing a gathering of independent radio and television producers in the Imperial Hotel, Mr Bakhurst said the State broadcaster was committed to producing more programmes from Cork.

RTÉ has had a presence in Cork since 1927. Its Fr Mathew St studios were opened in 1995 by then director general Joe Barry, and had been put briefly on the market in January 2024 before being withdrawn by that year’s end. At the time the building was valued at around €2m.

It is understood that since that time, RTÉ has looked at a number of city centre premises, among them One Albert Quay, and the Half Moon St offices that were once home to Apple.

In RTÉ's five-year 2025-2029 strategy, the broadcaster committed to investing in a new, expanded production centre in Cork.

“This facility will be home to a mix of in-house and commissioned programmes that will increase the number of regionally produced hours across our linear schedules and on-demand libraries in video and audio,” a spokesperson told this newspaper in 2024.

RTÉ sources have questioned whether the broadcaster has the resources to move from Fr Mathew St following multiple financial scandals.

There is also growing frustration that management has not met past commitments to increase its footprint outside of Dublin.

It has been noted by Cork staff that the majority of recent RTÉ senior staff positions advertised have all been Dublin-based, raising questions about the sincerity of the broadcaster’s commitment to decentralisation.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, Sinn Féin TD for Cork South Central, said RTÉ Cork staff deserved straight answers from management on their future.

“The vision outlined by Kevin Bakhurst in the past has emphasised strongly that Cork is going to be central to the broadcaster’s future,” he said.

“If that’s going to be the case, we need modern, up-to-date facilities to ensure that staff are supported in continuing to provide the excellent output that they do, in current affairs, in programming, in so many aspects.

“It appears that staff have not been given appropriate feedback, and that is completely unacceptable,” he said.

Fianna Fáil’s Séamus McGrath said that after more than two years of RTÉ management signalling an intention to move from Fr Mathew St, clarity was urgently needed.

“RTÉ Cork does superb work, and it’s very important that we maintain a strong presence from RTÉ here in the city,” he said.

Asked for comment, RTÉ said it “continues to consider options in Cork and when there is a material update, this will be shared with RTÉ staff in the first instance, before wider communication”.

A spokesperson for Cork City Council said it was focussed on progressing plans for a “world-class library and cultural destination at the Counting House” and would not be commenting on discussions “that may or may not be taking place”.