"We would be looking certainly to be on the air some time in 2006, hopefully by late summer or early autumn, " said Ger Roe, chief executive of Dublin Rock Radio, the consortium backing Phantom.

Dublin Rock, whose shareholders include U2 manager Paul McGuinness and music promoter Denis Desmond of MCD, was awarded an alternative rock licence for Dublin by the Broadcasting Commission Of Ireland (BCI) in November 2004. Zed FM, the Bob Geldof-backed consortium which also applied for the licence, sought a judicial review of the process. The BCI decision was upheld by the High Court late last year but Zed appealed to the Supreme Court, which will hear the appeal on 2 February.

If the decision is upheld, it will still take Phantom "two to three months" from the date of the judgement to get up and running, said Roe.