Former Century radio director, James Stafford, denied today that he tried to get former Communications Minister, Ray Burke, to kill-off RTÉ's 2FM in 1990. Mr Stafford said at the Flood Tribunal that it was his view that 2FM should be closed, as it was using the RTÉ licence fee to sell below-cost advertising to keep everybody else out of the market. He said London's Capital radio, which took a stake in Century, also believed it should be closed. But he said it was never a requirement, and it was not included in the 1990 legislation.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Flood Tribunal ruled that he would hear evidence about allegations made by Mr Stafford about monies sought from him when he was a director of Century Radio. Counsel for Ray Burke had challenged the hearing of the evidence on the basis that it was hearsay, and would prejudice his client's constitutional rights. Mr Justice Flood said that it was up to him to decide if the evidence had any value and he could not do that without hearing it. However, this evidence will not be heard until after the summer recess.
