NEW Ireland Assurance clearly doesn't have much faith in the public's ability to know the difference between an insurance company and a radio station.

The day after the radio licence hearings this week, New Ireland put an advertisement in the newspapers informing everybody that it "is a long established financial services group formed in 1924". They were afraid we might confuse them with New Ireland Broadcasting, the group including Cork 96/103 FM, Peter Quinn and Pascal Taggart.

The advertisement said New Ireland "wishes it to be known by its many shareholders, policyholders, customers, staff, agents and all other parties with which it has a relationship that it has no involvement with New Ireland Broadcasting or with the latter's application for the new national radio licence". What a pity. The Margin rather fancies the idea of a late night phone in on annuities and endowments.