Having won the licence for the midlands and northwest this week, iRadio - a group backed by Dan Healy, Deborah Fagan and Niall McFadden - is putting the final touches to its bid for the multicity franchise offered by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI).

It faces some stiff competition. Martin Block, former head of Lite FM, is putting together a consortium to have a tilt at the licence.

Bids from Denis O'Brien's Communicorp, the Radio Kerry group and a consortium involving Today FM are also expected.

One company that won't be applying is UTV, which holds five local licences in the Republic.

"We will not be applying for the new multicity licence, as UTV Radio Ireland already has a strong presence in the Cork, Dublin and Limerick markets, with a large 35-plus audience in each area, so we cannot see any benefit in applying for a licence to compete against our existing audiences in these areas," the station told The Irish Times.