The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) staged a demonstration against the closure of Independent Network News (INN) at the company’s offices in Dublin this afternoon.
Members of the NUJ were joined at the picket on INN's offices on Dublin's Mount St at lunchtime today by strikers from CocaCola and members of the Dublin Port cargo workers.
The protest was addressed by NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley and by RTÉ's Emma O'Kelly.
"We want the redundancy notice withdrawn as we believe that the board has acted prematurely,” NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley said.
“There is a statutory obligation for a 30 day consultation period and we believe they have breached that. There is a house agreement that requires us to exhaust procedures and go to the Labour Relations Commission.”
Labour Party communications spokeswoman Liz McManus, who attended the protest, said the closure of INN raised serious questions about media ownership and regulation in Ireland.
“It seems to me that the announcement of the closure was far too hasty and was made without any real consultation with staff or any genuine consideration of alternative business models.”
She said the make-up of the INN board was dominated by UTV and Communicorp and, while within the law, this was entirely inappropriate.
Both UTV and Communicorp branch Newstalk are understood to have bid for a contract to replace the INN service.
“This is indicative of an unhealthy concentration of media interests in a small number of hands and needs to be addressed.”
INN announced last month it would cease providing national and world news reports to radio stations at the end of October, with the loss of 16 jobs, because the business was no longer financially viable. The company, which was established in 1997, supplies national and international news to 21 local radio stations across the country.
Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan today said he was concerned about the closure of INN.
“I think it's a huge loss,” Mr Ryan told Newstalk radio. “I hope that there can be, whatever about the arrangements in the particular company, that we can get some similar service back up and running because I think the country needs that sort of independent news service."
Mr Dooley described Mr Ryan’s comments "a series of platitudes which give no comfort to staff." He said the Minister "appears to accept the closure of INN as a fait accompli".
NUJ members at INN have voted to take industrial action up to and including strike action in pursuit of a demand for a withdrawal of the threat of redundancies on October 30th. The NUJ has asked the company to refer the dispute to the Labour Relations Commission and to explore alternatives to wholesale redundancies.
The union has also sought an investigation into the actions of the board of the company by the Director of Corporate Enforcement.