RADIO Ireland, the new national station, will go on air on March 17th with sufficient funding to last three years before having to make a profit.
It will also have the same coverage as RTE radio, having signed a deal with the national broadcaster for access to its transmission system. In its first six months it hopes to attract about 20 per cent of the share of radio listeners.
It is this mix of country-wide transmission, adequate finances and modest targets that means it will not go the way of Century Radio, the last national commercial radio station, which collapsed with losses of more than £7 million.
Radio Ireland yesterday launched its weekday schedule in its new studios in three Georgian houses behind the new Jervis Centre on Dublin's north side.
As the chairman, Mr John McColgan, introduced the presenters, the atmosphere was upbeat and positive.
Mr McColgan spoke of his own commitment to radio, his early experiences of listening to radio as a young boy and then to Radio Luxembourg and Radio Caroline as a teenager and finally working for RTE.
He spoke of a new Ireland that was confident and said that Radio Ireland would offer that young confident Ireland a new voice. Radio Ireland had vision and would offer intelligent music selections and talk. No one would talk down to the listeners and the station would have no DJs, he insisted, just committed professionals with a passion for the music.
The new dames prepared to take on RTE Radio 1, its main target, include Eamon Dunphy, Emily O'Reilly, Anne Marie Hourihane, Gavin Duffy, Johnny Giles, Cliona Ni Bhuachalla and Donal Dineen.
Mr McColgan insisted that he never intended to attract RTE's big names to the station. He said he had given a commitment to the Independent Radio and Television Commission that he was offering something fresh and different.
The station's chief executive, Mr Dan Collins, said that a new investor, to take the place of Crosbie Holdings, the owner of the Examiner newspapers, which had 15 per cent, would be announced next week.