A High Court decision has cleared the way for the new Dublin rock radio station Phantom FM to begin broadcasting early next year.
Dublin Rock, trading as Phantom FM, is backed by a wide range of individuals and companies, including U2 manager Paul McGuinness's Principle Management and promoter Denis Desmond's Gaiety Investments.
The station, which was awarded a licence by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) on November 8th, 2004, was forced to delay its start-up date after legal proceedings challenging that decision were brought by the consortium Zed FM, which is backed by Niall Stokes of Hot Press and musician Bob Geldof.
Zed challenged the granting of the licence on a number of ground including a claim that the BCI was unfairly biased towards Phantom FM and that members of the consortium had wrongly benefited from illegal broadcasting in the past as a pirate station.
Dismissing the challenge, Mr Justice Philip O'Sullivan said the involvement in illegal broadcasting of some individuals with Dublin Rock was known to the BCI and they had ceased their illegal broadcasting before the licence application being made.
He said it was well established that it was for the commission, not the courts, to consider what weight would attach to that matter when it was considering the character of that particular bidder.
Zed FM director Dermot Hanrahan had in an affidavit said Phantom FM had made several references to its past performance in its application to the BCI, the judge noted. There were references to Phantom's building on a solid foundation and reputation and to its previous activities.
However, the judge held that Zed FM had "not established in any way" that the BCI gave an advantage to Dublin Rock arising out of its illegal broadcasting experience. He dismissed the challenge.