10.04.06
Newstalk national launch
So Newstalk have gone national. I’ve been smiling at their TV ads which show the presenters in white cheerful studios plastered with the Newstalk logo. The reality is somewhat dingier 
And Andrew Hanlon in TV3 hasn’t taken too kindly to Claire abandoning ship and is insisting she work out her notice period and refrain from broadcasting with anyone else while in that job. Andrew’s been around a while and won’t be messed with lightly.
“TV3 yesterday moved against its golden girl Claire Byrne.
The station went to court to stop the news anchor broadcasting on the breakfast show slot on NewsTalk 106FM, the Dublin radio station which went national last week.
Since NewsTalk’s national launch, Ms Byrne has been getting up before dawn for the station’s breakfast show as well as continuing with her nightly newscaster job on TV3. Ms Byrne is co-hosting, along with Ger Gilroy, NewsTalk’s prime time Breakfast Show, which goes head-to-head with RTE’s Morning Ireland.
TV3 yesterday secured an interim injunction from a High Court judge restraining Ms Byrne from performing any broadcasting duties for NewsTalk until tomorrow, when the case will come before the court again.
In the proceedings, TV3 is seeking to prevent Ms Byrne from broadcasting or completing any other duties for NewsTalk without the prior consent of the television station and pending the outcome of legal proceedings over the extent of her contractual obligations.
In an affidavit, TV3 company executive Andrew Hanlon said Ms Byrne’s written contract precluded her from performing “any freelance work or (engaging) in any related activity for a television or radio station located within the broadcast territory serviced by the company”.
On August 25, Ms Byrne phoned Mr Hanlon and told him she had been offered a fulltime presenting job by NewsTalk 106 and she was formally resigning her position.
She told him she had thought long and hard and had decided she wanted to pursue the opportunity regardless of the increased salary she had been offered.
She told Mr Hanlon she would like to leave TV3 as soon as possible in order to start working with the radio station.
Mr Hanlon said he told Ms Byrne on August 31 that the company would require her to comply with the full notice terms of her contract as they would need to make several internal staff changes and possibly recruit new staff as a result of her departure.
He said she accepted this but was disappointed as she would not be able to join NewsTalk 106 on their launch date of October 2.
On Friday, September 29, Mr Hanlon said he received a phone call from Ms Byrne who asked him had he heard “the news”. When he asked her what news, she said she had just finished broadcasting her first programme as part of the NewsTalk schedule that morning.
Ms Byrne later told him on September 29 that she proposed to continue to provide her services to TV3 until November 25, but that she also intended to provide her services during that period to NewsTalk 106.”
Gerry said,
October 4, 2006 at 3:33 pm
thanks for that. remind me to send you some of the gossip from around my workplace next time somthing like this comes up.
leon said,
October 4, 2006 at 3:45 pm
Ger Gilroy is crap though isn’t he. Grating voice, thick, bland and uninteresting. The only that suites the radio is his face (he is ugly). His sports programme was a million times better when he was away during the summer. Sack him and bring in Oisin Langan.
TV3 must be shit if anyone would leave for Newstalk. If you go TV for radio, you are screwed. Claire Byrne is normal looking though. Voice also grates. I’ve switched to Anna Livia’s mix of music and traffic.
leon said,
October 4, 2006 at 3:48 pm
Seriously whose cock is Ger Gilroy sucking?
ciaran said,
October 4, 2006 at 5:25 pm
And Eoin McDevitt ( sp? ) is proving himself a worthy host of “Off the Ball” since Gilroy got his promotion. — Gilroy mightn’t get that Job back if he loses the morning show. I hope he doesn’t.
Toni said,
October 4, 2006 at 7:17 pm
I for one will miss Hidden Dublin and The Arts and Entertainment Show, Roisin Ingle’s show is not quite my cup of tea…
Sarah said,
October 4, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Actually, I rather like Ger. But then since he is also from the Midlands – Athy ? or something, perhaps I don’t find his accent so irritating.
fmk said,
October 4, 2006 at 8:42 pm
gilroy’s alright. he built the sorts show into what it is, and he’s pretty intelligent.
there is something jinxed about that brekkie show though. half the time dunphy couldn’t host it, even though it carried his name. now it’s co-carrying byrne’s name and she isn’t able to host it.
rabbit32 said,
October 6, 2006 at 8:48 am
Leon – what’s your problem with Ger? Sounds like you wanted to suck his cock and he wasn’t having it.
Gilroy’s better than Dunphy, more professional, more rounded approach, none of the wrinkly one’s crass little agendas. You’re welcome to Anna Livia – you obviously have no interest in what’s going on in the country if you’re listening to its “blend of music and traffic”. And seriously, Oisin Langan??? He’s the worst thing about newstalk by far.
McDevitt is very good on Off The Ball. All in all, a smashing station. Well done lads.
Sarah said,
October 6, 2006 at 9:10 am
Why do people take Leon so seriously? sigh.
leon said,
October 6, 2006 at 10:01 am
[1] Gilroys’ voice grates, he sounds like a pompous self important prick. He’s learned a D4 accent somewhere but I don’t want to listen to it.
[2] He is callow, he lacks gravitas so his pomposity is ludicrous.
[3] Oisin Langan is a much better presenter of off the ball than Gilroy
[4] Ken Early is incomparably better than Gilroy, he knows his stuff. If Gilroy found that scot who does the Spanish football news for them fair play, maybe he would be good behind the scenes.
[5] He isn’t smart and his questioning is bland.
[6] If you think that listening to Newstalk means you have an interest in what is going on the country, get real, if you want to know what Tom Kitt and Michael McDowell think about Bertiegate listen to morning ireland, if you want to know what the PR girl for Business Plus magazine (that’s shit too) thinks listen to Newstalk.
[7] It is a fact that the football show was better without him.
[8] I’ve seen what Gilroy looks like and if I was going to go gay it wouldn’t be for him. Jared Leto maybe and Jared Leto only.
[9] Newstalk devote a lot of time to traffic.
[10] Duphy’s agendas were completely open. In other words he was honest about his biases. Gilroy is too boring to have any.
Sarah said,
October 6, 2006 at 12:17 pm
hmmmm – some good points there.
ThereseM said,
March 23, 2007 at 11:54 am
I have to say I also think Ger Gilroy is crap – how the hell did he get where he is – I mean who did he sleep with to get where he is. Agree with previous comments – bland & uninteresting. Used to write some awful rubbish in The Village ages ago – quotes from philosophers at the start of a sports piece – what’s that all about. He obviously feels inferior & thinks it makes him sound intelligent & high brow!! So sad!!!!!
As for Oisin Langan – used to be hosting a sports call in programme on Today FM about 2 yrs ago. I listened to him with someone who actually knows about sport who in the time it takes to get from Cork (at Annual Sports Writers Dinner) he corrected everything that spewed out of that guy’s mouth. He’s a very nice person I believe but rubbish at his job.
I used to love listening to Bob McKenzie on East Coast FM but I don’t hear him anymore. He was obviously intelligent, knew lots about sport & had a sexy voice too – sorry guys but that really does help.
Rant over!!
Sarah said,
March 23, 2007 at 2:03 pm
gee, how harsh! I have to say I disagree. I like Gilroy – perhaps I am used to the midland’s accent.
But I think he’s relaxed and withering when needs be. I’ve heard several people compliment his interview with Tony Killeen – he crucified him over sending the letters he hadn’t read from his constituency office when just minutes earlier Morning Ireland had made a bags of it. Clare is extremely competent, if a touch on the colourless side, but presumably as time goes on she’ll relax a bit too and we’ll hear more of her personality. Its amazing how long it takes to settle in to those jobs – I think you have to give them 12 months before you can start making real judgments. Sure Dunphy needed 2 years to get going on the Last Word.
Johnno said,
April 19, 2007 at 10:15 pm
I agree with Leon about Gilroy. He is too uninteresting to have any bias. He simply does not have the broad knowledge and interest in current affairs to do the morning show but clearly has huge influence to get the gig. It has been dumbed down significantly with the best part of half an hour givfen to the papers which is a joke where non-entities swap try to out one-liner each other. They have had comedians on doing the papers which says it all.
Dunphy had a decent programme but got his arse kicked in the ratings, so Newstalk have gone back to what they know best – soccer and in-jokes. Half an hour’s sort every morning is crazy. When you add those together along with an hour on Hook’s programme on Friday plus sports bulletins every half hour, along with that idiot Gilroy-wannabe McDevitt for 3 hours in the evening (a decent bit of editing would shave it down to an hour and lose nothing important) it is massive overkill.
Clair Byrne is not bad but has been dragged down by having to do this double-act with Gilroy who seems to spend all his time on the internet and youtube in particular. Acting hard with some politician just to please the audience is far from getting sometime worthwhile from an interview. But Gilroy has not the knowledge to pull this off.
Hook’s programme has been demolished by Matt Cooper and the Morning show has little to offer against Morning Ireland where people actually know their brief, and are not fat jumped-up soccer heads who think that a smart one-liner is the answer to all things.