RADIO Ireland, the new national commercial station, intends to start broadcasting on St Patrick's Day with 97 per cent coverage of the country.

In co operation with RTE, the station will have 19 radio transmitters costing £1.3 million. It is hoped these transmitters will deliver the same quality signal as RTE Radio 1 and FM. Radio Ireland will pay RTE a £500,000 annual charge for the maintenance of this transmission network.

Chief executive and programme controller, Mr Dan Collins, said the station expected to have half a million listeners within the first year of broadcasting. This translates into 20 per cent of the national radio audience.

Mr Collins said the station's core market would be listeners in the 24-44 age group. "JNLR figures show that 62 per cent of RTE Radio 1's audience are more than 45 years of age. On the other hand, 39 per cent of 2FM's audience are under 24 years. Clearly the age group that we have targeted is not adequately catered for at the moment" he said.

The new station has disclosed that it intends to employ 55 full time staff and about 15 part time staff in its new headquarters at Radio Ireland House in Dublin's new Jervis Shopping Centre.

The station has received more than 1,700 applications from people looking to work with it. Many senior positions still have to be filled.

It is estimated the radio advertising market will be worth almost £40 million in 1997. Newly appointed sales and marketing manager for Radio Ireland, Mr Dave Hammond, admitted a March launch date was not ideal for advertising but he was confident the station could "capture 9 to 10 per cent of the market in its first year".

The recent shareholding taken up by Scottish Radio Holdings was welcomed by the station's chairman, Mr John McColgan, who said: "Their radio experience will complement the existing range of relevant expertise on the board of Radio Ireland."

The stat ion also plans to sell its news and current affairs service to independent radio stations, although Mr Collins would not say whether the service would be sold more cheaply than other news services, such as Independent Radio News.

Details about programming were not revealed yesterday, but the stations executives said they would announce them in early March. Mr McColgan said the station would be "trying to provide an alternative to RTE".

Radio Ireland plans to spend between £3.5 million and £4 million in the first year. Mr Collins denied the station could end up in trouble like Century Radio. "The important thing to remember is that we have the coverage in place before we go on air; that was not the case with Century."

The shareholdings in Radio Ireland are 15 per cent for Crosbie Holdings, 15 per cent for Scottish Radio Holdings, 7.5 per cent for International Investments and Underwriters, with the remaining 62.5 per cent shared between Mr McColgan, Mr Brian Molloy, Mr Denis Desmond, Ms Moya Doherty, Mr Robbie Wootton and Mr Joe Moreau.