The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) has confirmed that it is in discussions with a number of British broadcasters about moving operations to Ireland post-Brexit.
Earlier this month, Michael O’Keeffe, the chief executive of the BAI, told the Oireachtas committee on communications that it had “been approached by several broadcasting companies that use the UK as a location to broadcast to Europe”.
IDA Ireland has been pitching to lure international broadcasters including Disney Channel and Discovery from London amid fears that Brexit could affect their ability to work from the UK. It is understood that the agency has talked with television companies about possibly locating some operations in Dublin.
Ireland is among a number of countries that could replace Britain as a centre for international broadcasting, as industry figures have warned that London’s value as a hub to broadcast across Europe would be under threat if it left the EU single market.
O’Keeffe told the committee that broadcasters were concerned that if and when the UK left, they would no longer have the right to be carried on the service of the various European countries.
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“They are considering other jurisdictions, and Ireland is one,” he said.
However, the BAI chief also warned that the operations might not bring great financial benefit because many of them were likely to still base the majority of their workforce in the UK and their European licence would be based in this jurisdiction or somewhere else.
“It could bring a bureaucratic headache for us to process a range of licences, which may not bring an economic benefit to Ireland. In general terms, our policy is that we should be permissive and welcome companies that want to locate in this jurisdiction,” he said.
O’Keeffe added that any moves could have long-term benefits for production and help develop a greater media sector in Ireland.
“All the Sky channels, which have UK licences, may require a licence from Ireland or somewhere else to broadcast in other jurisdictions. That does not, however, mean they will move all their people here. They may move some. They have a base here and employ many people here. Even if it does not bring many people in, it may open other opportunities,” he said.