THE High Court has granted an order restraining the termination of Radio Limerick One's licence pending the hearing of proceedings.
Mr Justice McCracken yesterday also gave leave for the radio station to challenge by way of judicial review the Independent Radio and Television Commission's decision by which the licence had been terminated from today.
The court was told 50 jobs were at stake.
Mr Gerard Hogan, counsel for Radio Limerick One Ltd, told the court that the station was alleging that the actions of the IRTC were prompted by bias on the part of one of its members, Ms Eileen Brophy, a journalist who was a former employee of the station. Mr Hogan claimed that the decision of the IRTC to terminate the contract was invalidated by bias.
He said the IRTC had terminated the licence for alleged breaches of the Radio and Television Act 1988, including alleged transmission of an unapproved programme and editing of a news bulletin.
It was the first time in which the IRTC had taken action of this kind, Mr Hogan said.
He said the IRTC served a notice on the station of the termination of the contract on February 16th. It alleged that there had been 17 breaches of the contract under the 1988 Act. Of these, 13 were alleged to be serious or, repeated and three of these repeated serious breaches.
The termination notice was to take effect from today. If this happened it would mean that 50 staff would have to be let go, many of whom were part time and freelance journalists.
Mr Hogan said that his client would say that all of the alleged breaches were trifling, technical or beyond the control of the applicant. There was no appeal procedure against the IRTC decision apart from the courts.
He said his client was alleging the decision was motivated by bias. A member of the IRTC, Ms Eileen Brophy, a journalist, was a former employee of the station and was not well disposed to it. The IRTC's contention in respect of several of the alleged breaches of the 1988 Act and/or contract followed complaints made by or on behalf of Ms Brophy.
Mr Hogan said that the IRTC could not properly have concluded within the meaning of the Act that the alleged breaches were "repeated or serious breaches" and the IRTC acted ultra vires under the Act. The station contended that to terminate the licence was unreasonable in law and constituted discrimination.
The IRTC had failed to take similar far reaching action against other holders of sound broadcasting licences in respect of similar alleged transgressions of the Act and the contract.
In an affidavit, Mr Gerard Madden, chief executive of Radio Limerick One Ltd, said that if the termination notice was not restrained by the court, it would have disastrous implications for the viability of the company, drastically affect its advertising and other venues and deprive the people of Limerick of a local radio station.
He said that Ms Brophy's case after she left the radio station was settled before an Employment Appeals Tribunal in February 1994. It was around that time that she was appointed as a member of the IRTC.
While Ms Brophy had excused herself before a vote was taken at the IRTC meeting to issue a termination notice and she did not attend the meeting on March 7th, where they made representations concerning the suspension, she did participate at all earlier meetings of the IRTC concerning the radio station, he said.
Mr Justice McCracken said that he thought the radio station, had a sufficient case to seek judicial review. He was not impressed with the argument of bias, as the person did not vote.