The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) is to invite applications for new services in Dublin city and county. The BCI's chief executive, Mr Michael O'Keeffe, said he was conscious of the many calls for additional services in Dublin.

The BCI move could lead to the creation of four new stations, although the decision is ultimately one for the BCI board. Both commercial and special interest services will be considered.

Politicians welcomed the move last night, with Fianna Fáil TD Mr Barry Andrews calling on the BCI to cater for the growing number of listeners disenfranchised by the closure of "pirate" radio stations.

"The recent closure of unlicensed services has left a lot of listeners without stations to cater for their musical tastes. If radio is to have a future it must continue to attract new listeners and that includes young people who are largely not served by the mainstream Dublin radio services," he said.

He also said requirements such as 20 per cent of airtime being allocated to news and current affairs should be eased.

The announcement is likely to be welcomed by pirate operators, although some of the existing stations in the market will be nervous about the impact on them.

Mr O'Keeffe said the new services would "have the potential to add to the diversity of choice for listeners in the Dublin market".

The current BCI board leaves office in October, but the expressions of interest will be passed on to the next board which will be appointed by the Minister for Communications and Natural Resources, Mr Dermot Ahern.

The BCI, along with ComReg, have restructured the radio frequencies to allow new services some space.

The BCI also liaised with the British Radio Communications Agency to ensure no changes in Ireland would affect services in Britain.

The BCI's engineers have identified four further frequencies on the FM band suitable for use in the Dublin area.

One frequency will provide coverage in Dublin city and county; one will cover Dublin city and part of the county; while the other two will cover the area within the bounds of the M50, said a spokeswoman.

The availability of additional frequencies is possible because some existing frequencies have been relocated.

All stations affected by this have been contacted.

"The Commission is proposing to allow stations to simulcast on both new and old frequencies for a specified period of time," said a statement.

Advertisements will be placed in the national press on July 4th seeking expressions of interest.

"The Commission will continue to investigate the possibility of further frequency availability over the coming months. Should co-ordination be successful, any further available frequencies will be taken into consideration when examining any expressions received in the current phase," said the BCI statement.