Burke ordered frequency for Century despite advice

The minister for communications at the time, Mr Ray Burke, ordered his Department to allocate to Century Radio a medium-wave frequency sought by the station despite official advice recommending a different one, the Flood tribunal has heard.

The official who implemented the minister's decision of October 1989 was unaware where the minister might have received advice on such a technical matter, he told the tribunal yesterday.

Mr Tom Kennington, an official with the Department's telecommunications and radio-technology division, said it was unusual for the minister to discuss frequency allocation with him. Normally, a minister's private secretary would discuss such an issue with the official and then report to the minister.

Mr Kennington said Century was of the view that it could "chop and change" frequencies, but this was not possible. The allocation of radio frequencies was a matter of international agreement, and the Department was also charged with co-ordinating the allocation of frequencies among the various radio stations in Ireland.

Ms Mairead Coughlan, for the tribunal, said Century assumed it was getting the 1143 kilohertz (kHz) frequency, whereas the Department planned to allocate it 1431 kHz in Dublin. She referred to a memo by Mr Kennington on October 13th, 1989, in which he recorded his conversation with Mr Burke on the matter.

Mr Burke asked what the position regarding a medium-wave frequency for Century was, and then asked about the availability of the 1143 kHz frequency.

Mr Kennington explained there were "difficulties". Other frequencies had been allocated to Century, and there was a lead-in time in any change. Referring to Ireland's international obligations, he said the frequency could only be allocated provided it did not cause interference to other stations.

Mr Burke directed his official to allocate the frequency to Century on a non-interference basis.

Up to this point, the frequency had been allocated to a local station in Dublin. The directive was issued several days later, and the frequency was used by Century until it closed in 1991.

Mr Aidan Walsh SC, for Mr Burke, asked if there was any difficulty in allocating the 1143kHz frequency to Century. Mr Kennington replied that there was not, provided it was understood by everyone involved.

The evidence of Mr Gerry O'Brien, the chief financial officer of RTE, continues today.