RTE bosses have shut down their main canteen amid fears it could be infested with mice and rats.
The station has been undergoing construction work on its grounds and it appears the building has become plagued with “rodent activity” as the work has disturbed their furry neighbours.
We have learned the main canteen – which feeds our top and brightest stars – closed its doors to staff this week.
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In an email seen by us, RTE said to staff: “Happy New Year to you and your families.
“I wanted to advise you of some arrangements we have put in place while the main restaurant on our Donnybrook campus closed for essential maintenance.”
The email states that staff can eat at the Bite Café until January 13.
“Bite will be open from 8.00am- 6.30pm tonight and tomorrow night, and from Monday to Friday next week.
“A hot meal will be available from 5pm during this period.”
A spokesman for RTE confirmed to us: “RTÉ has a number of controls in place to monitor rodent activity on our sites, which can occur from time to time, particularly due to building or other works on site or in the area.
"Where any rodent activity is detected, as happened recently, experts are brought on site to assess such activity and take the appropriate action, including precautionary measures. The main canteen is currently closed for essential maintenance."
In 2018, RTE star Ryan Tubridy revealed staff were on “high alert” after the radio centre became infested with rodents.
Having complimented the builders who are working on site for being "neat" and "clean", the Late Late Show host revealed at the time that their digging didn't help the problem.
"They've unearthed a lot of the ground near where will be our new neighbours, who we look forward to bringing over a bottle of wine and some cheese, or whatever people do when new neighbours move in, but maybe not the cheese," he said.
"I was told this morning that we have to be on high alert for mice."
There has been "great excitement" among the staff and it is, he said, "the talk of the town" on his morning Radio 1 show.
"I swear to God it was like CSI Montrose listening to them this morning describing the mouse that our friends on Ray's show were talking about, and we were talking about. It's the talk of the town here."
Tubs then joked he was propagating "fake news" when he suggested it could in fact be a rat.
"[I said] 'Are you sure there's not a hoard of rats running around the place?' Do you remember what Vladimir Putin said about hamsters? He said hamsters are just rats with good PR. Maybe these are mice with good PR?,” he said at the time.
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