Met Eireann's ousted weather forecasters are to consider taking a case against RTE for practising "ageism" in replacing them with younger professional broadcasters. Some of the professional meteorologists who have been providing weather forecasts for the national television station since its inception in 1961, had up to 18 years broadcasting experience before being dropped last week.
Under the new Employment Equality Act, age is one of several new categories under which discrimination by employers is outlawed.
If the meteorologists and part-time broadcasters can persuade their union IMPACT to take a case, it could be the first under the new legislation. They are meeting with senior union officials this week to consider their options. Met Eireann staff were first dropped as presenters for most weather bulletins by RTE radio in 1996, after an RTE review group decided that the bulletins should be provided by editorial staff. They were dropped by Network 2 last May.
It was following public outcry over similar proposals to remove them from RTE 1 that the station retained the Met Eireann presenters as part of an interim arrangement. This has now ended.
Last Thursday, Ms Evelyn Cu sack presented the last "totally live and unscripted" weather broadcast on the 9 p.m. news. She was one of the reduced team of three Met Eireann which has presented the broadcast for the past months. The others were Ms Joan Blackburn and Mr Gerald Fleming.
A spokeswoman for RTE said yesterday that the new positions, which went to Ms Nuala Carey (23), Mr Brian Crummins (31) and Ms Neasa Curran (25), had all been advertised. It had been open to Met Eireann presenters to apply for them.
All three presenters recruited are graduates.
The new presenters are on short-term contracts. The salary scale is not being disclosed by RTE, but it is understood to be considerably lower than those for permanent people in the professional graduate grades of the Civil Service which apply in et Eireann. Met Eireann.
Met Eireann meteorologists will continue to supply data, graphics and scripts to RTE.
According to IMPACT shop steward, Mr Pat Clarke, the national television station had offered to allow Met Eireann staff to continue giving two of the five daily weather bulletins on RTE 1. Union members declined "because we felt we were only being kept on sufferance".
Up until recently, eight members of the Met Eireann staff appeared on RTE to give live two-minute presentations.
Major drawbacks to the new system, according to Mr Clarke, is that it will see the forecast reduced to 90 seconds, they will not be given by experts and will not be based on the most up-to-date information.