As you have heard across the station today, RTE has confirmed major cost cutting measures across the National Broadcaster- including cutting presenter' pay; 200 job cuts; the closure of RTE's Limerick studio and the sale of the RTE Guide.

So with uncertainty hanging over media across the country- in fact around the world- what is the future of public service broadcasting?

David Harvey, Founder of City Channel joined Ivan on this evening's edition of the Hard Shoulder, but first, Charlie Bird, well known to all of us as a long-standing RTE journalist for many years, had some pointed remarks to make in relation to how RTE is being treated, particularly by the political system.