RTÉ Television Centre
| RTÉ Television Centre | |
|---|---|
The Television Centre building on the RTÉ campus.
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| General information | |
| Type | Television studios |
| Address | Donnybrook, Dublin 4 |
| Current tenants | RTÉ Television |
| Construction started | 1960 |
| Completed | 1962 |
| Renovated | 1979 |
| Cost | £500,000 |
| Client | RTÉ |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Ronnie Tallon |
| Architecture firm | Scott Tallon Walker |
| Main contractor | Messrs. E. Stone & Sons Ltd. |
| Awards and prizes | Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland Gold Medal |
Coordinates: 53°18′56″N 6°13′24″W / 53.315634°N 6.223251°W
The RTÉ Television Centre is a television studio complex which is owned by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and has been home to Ireland's national public service broadcaster since 1961. It is situated at Donnybrook, Dublin 4. The building houses the main production studios for RTÉ Television, the control rooms for all RTÉ's TV channels, and RTÉ's main newsroom.
When plans for an Irish national television station were developed in the late 1950s attention quickly turned to a suitable location for the new television studios and adjoining offices. By September 1959 a 25-acre area of land on the Stillorgan road in Donnybrook became the favoured site for the new television production centre.
On 3 October 1960 the new Radio Éireann Authority signed a £500,000 contract for the construction of the television centre and offices at the proposed location. A few hours after this the contractors began to move in. The contract was awarded to Messrs. E. Stone & Sons Ltd. from Thorncastle street in Dublin, one of four firms invited to tender. The building when completed in 1962 contained the first purpose-built television studios in Ireland, as existing studios in Belfast had been set up in converted buildings.
At the beginning of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland a bomb damaged the front of the building early on the morning of 5 August 1969. The Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) claimed responsibility, this being the first bomb that they had ever planted in the Republic of Ireland. The bombing took place during the protest campaign by the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association but before the 1969 riots.
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