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TV3 insist majority of their on-air talent is ‘female’ after Sinead Desmond’s shock exit

Sinead left the station amid reports of a gender pay-gap row

VIPIRELAND.COM

TV3 have insisted that the majority of their on-air talent is “female”, following Sinead Desmond’s shock exit from the station last year.

The presenter, who had worked at TV3 for 11 years and co-anchored Ireland AM, left the station last year amid reports of a gender pay-gap row.

Then in November, it was revealed that Sinead’s departure from TV3 was “now a legal matter”.

Speaking at TV3’s Spring launch yesterday, director of programming Bill Malone didn’t comment on the legal battle with Sinead, but went on to say that TV3 is a positive environment for women, and added, “The majority of our on-air talent is female.”

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Bill also added that they are currently looking for someone to replace Sinead as an Ireland AM presenter.

“We’re in the middle of that so that is something that we’re looking at. We’re looking for talent. That could be anyone. Bring on new talent. We’ll see more TV3 talent appearing in different TV3 shows,” he said.

According to the Irish Mirror, the director of programming was also pressed about the final six episodes of Blind Date, which TV3 were forced to cancel when allegations of inappropriate behaviour were made against the show’s host Al Porter.

Remaining tight-lipped, Bill said, “There was never any intention in the spring schedule and that is all I’ll say for the moment.”

Photo: Brian McEvoy

Meanwhile, the future of the channel’s soap Red Rock remains unclear.

The programme is set to return for 13 episodes on January 22, but when asked about the show’s future, Bill said, “Production is on hiatus. It’s a very complex, financial make-up for Red Rock. It’s under review.”

Meanwhile, TV3 is set to be rebranded as Virgin Media Television later this year, and the premiere date for Ireland’s Got Talent was finally revealed. 

 

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