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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
National
John Kierans

RTE bosses plan secret sale of Today Show studios in Cork as payment scandal bites

RTE bosses are secretly planning to sell the Cork offices – where the Today Show is broadcast live every day to help cut costs.

The station bought the building, which sees Maura Derrane and Daithi Ó Sé film their programme every day, from An Bord Gais and there is no debt on it.

However, it has fallen into disrepair in recent years with leaks in the roof and needs painting on the outside.

Read More: Govt to send auditor to look at RTE's books as PAC wants Tubridy for questioning

It is believed the station has been in contact with two local estate agents about selling it.

Staff first got wind of it when Cork boss Colm Crowley told them at a meeting two weeks ago they would be moving to a new rented studio at 1 Albert Quay in the city.

There are around 60 to 70 people working there between news, radio, production and the Today Show which normally runs for eight months of the year.

A source said: “This all came out of the blue.

“Our offices have been allowed to decay with little or no maintenance done in recent years.

“Management said they are selling it. We don’t know why we are moving to rented accommodation and where the money for the new studio fit-out has come from.

The Today show's Daithi O'Se and Maura Derrane (Instagram)

“People are worried the whole Cork operation is to be scaled down with little or no consultation with anyone.

“If the Today Show is taken out of Cork and moved back to Dublin many people here will lose their jobs.

“If they are seeking redundancies they should be looking at Dublin and not just here.

“We don’t even know if the Today Show can be broadcast from the new rented studios.”

The staff have also demanded that the Dail Public Accounts Committee examines how the RTE operation in Cork is run.

The workers are planning to contact local TDs this week.

It is understood there are concerns about widespread product placement on the Today Show.

Apart from the Today Show, the John Creedon Radio Show, Nationwide and the Creedon TV show are run from Cork.

An RTE spokesperson could not be contacted.

Elsewhere, the Government is set to green light an auditor to examine RTE’s finances – just as the Public Accounts Committee warned it plans to continue inviting witnesses to testify before the panel amid the ongoing payments scandal.

However, coalition chiefs played down reports of hundreds of redundancies and a sell-off of 2FM amid the ongoing crisis over secret payments to Ryan Tubridy.

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