Mr. John Purcell:

I have to say it is built on the dedication of fantastic people who are motivated by a huge sense of public service. Mr. Kelly mentioned the hundreds of hours that were done at election counts. Relying on the goodwill of people and their passion for their job as a basis for continuing to sustain those kinds of services is not fair or possible. I know many people like me running stations around the country are struggling with continuing to provide that, both from a financial point of view and from the point if view of the pressure it puts on people. A new element is the amount of abuse journalists now get. This has been mentioned at this forum previously. Online and on social media, journalists are a target. There is a bit of news weariness and news avoidance creeping in too. The perfect storm is news services under huge pressure for viability matched with people deciding they have had enough of politics and do not want to hear any more about it.

There is also the lack of proper resourcing, particularly where a radio station becomes unsustainable, which is a threat. The levels of coverage provided during elections are phenomenal, not just in Carlow-Kilkenny but throughout the country.