Competition among the three consortiums vying for the north-west radio licence intensified yesterday at a Broadcasting Commission of Irealnd (BCI) hearing in Donegal town.

Several high-profile media and sporting figures attended, including former Irish goalkeeper Packie Bonner and crime journalist Mr Paul Williams, both part of Ocean FM Group.

The current licence holder is North West Radio, which has held it for 12 years. Its music policy has been criticised for not appealing to younger listeners and at the hearings the station's chairman was subject to serious questioning by the BCI panel on a range of issues.

It is being challenged for the licence by the Ocean FM Group and also by Ocean FM Ltd, an entirely separate group made up of business figures from the northwest and Highland Radio which operates in north Donegal. The licence covers south Donegal, Sligo and north Leitrim.

The chairman of the BCI, Mr Conor Maguire, questioned North West about how it has performed in recent years.

Problems implementing BCI rules regarding the amount of advertising broadcast each hour was raised by Mr Maguire and the chairman of North West Mr Donal O'Shea responded by saying the station had introduced a new system within the last year to deal with it.

One of the biggest shareholders in North West is Mid West radio and Mr Maguire raised the relationship between the two.

He queried whether it was wise for two stations to share the same sales team. However, Mr O'Shea emphasised that while there was some sharing of services, North West was a stand-alone operation.

The other consortiums emphasised their appeal to a younger audience, although they stressed that all age groups and constituencies would be served. The Ocean FM Group said it would be pumping more money into its station than the other two.

Mr Charlie Collins, chairman of the Ocean FM Ltd consortiumsaid younger listeners were drifting away from the station and his group would bring them back.