MPs on all sides of the House of Commons have urged RTÉ to reconsider its decision to close the station’s London bureau from September next.
Former Labour Northern Ireland secretary of state Paul Murphy said he understood "the enormous financial pressures" facing the broadcaster, but "it is our belief that RTÉ should still have a presence here in Great Britain".
“It could be, for example, that RTÉ might share an office with another television or radio company, just as the BBC does in Dublin,” said Mr Murphy during the first-ever debate on the work of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly in the Commons.
“Given the continuing importance of British-Irish relations, the enormous significance of the Irish diaspora here in Great Britain, the fact that tens of thousands of British people work in Ireland and the political importance of the relationships between these islands, it is important that RTÉ should retain its presence here,” he declared.
Northern Ireland Office minister Hugo Swire said RTÉ's plans "concerns us all" , but he insisted the station is "an independent broadcaster, and it must make its own decisions, so I cannot comment further on that".
Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd said he agreed "that we must encourage the Irish Government to retain RTÉ in London and in the United Kingdom, where it plays an important role", adding that RTÉ "needs to come up with slightly more flexible working arrangements, which would cut costs while allowing a very important broadcasting service to continue".
