Ireland: RTE left singing the blues with €182,000 Eurovision price tag

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INDEPENDENT.IE REPORTS
CASH-strapped RTE, faced with a €68m funding deficit, spent €182,000 on our disastrous 2009 Eurovision entry. The massive sum was splurged on selecting and sending an entourage to Russia during May for the 54th annual song contest. Despite being touted as a decent bet for glory, Sinead Mulvey and Black Daisy failed to even make it to the final. The €182,630 bill covered the cost of selecting the band, entry fees, hotel bills, flights, entertainment and visas. The hotel bill for the 15 member delegation amounted to €24,710, flights €6,761, food and entertainment €9,540, visas €1,400 and airport transfers €978.

The information was provided to the Irish Independent under a Freedom of Information request. The bill was more than last year's tab for dispatching Dustin the Turkey, to Serbia, which cost €170,000. This year, the cost of staging a national competition on RTE's own 'Late Late Show' cost €83,879, while the Eurovision participation fee was more than €55,000. RTE chiefs have been implementing a range of cuts in a bid to plug the broadcaster's €68m budget deficit by the end of the year. An RTE spokesman defended the Eurovision bill and said the cash had provided seven hours of entertainment.

"All these programmes attracted substantial audiences. All costs in Moscow were carefully controlled," he said. "In all cases, the cheapest possible flights were booked. The hotel costs reflect the going rate in Moscow." Labour's Liz McManus said RTE needed to carefully gauge its spending as they were in "terrible difficulties". However, she pointed out that many people enjoy Eurovision and it would be difficult to take part in the competition without "considerable outlay".

Simon Coveney, Fine Gael's communications spokesman, said an "honest review" of the entire Eurovision process was needed, but added: "To be fair to RTE, they get lumbered with the costs. There would be a lot of disappointed people if RTE decided not to enter."

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