IT'S 12 O'CLOCK in the afternoon on a cold, blustery, wet day and at the Newstalk studios in Georgian Dublin, Claire Byrne and Ger Gilroy have already been up for more than eight hours. Both are bleary eyed. Officially, it's the second week of their breakfast show . . . the first convincing challenge RTE's Morning Ireland has faced since the early days of Radio Ireland.

It was a rocky start, with Byrne being injuncted by her former employers TV3 three days into her new job broadcasting with Newstalk. The papers were all over the story. When TV3, with trademark stubborness, refused to release Byrne from her contract to allow her to start working at Newstalk, everyone expected bickering and tension in-house. But behind the scenes, Byrne remained close to Andrew Hanlon, the tough head of news at the television station. Outside of court, he showed relative kindness and support towards Claire in the run-up to her departure, which in TV3 terms was akin to getting down on one knee.

Byrne, a sedate and quiet type, backs up the story, with an equally amicable version. "It was a bit mad, you know? It was a bit unfortunate really that it went down the road that it did. But, you know, I got to do the first three days I suppose on air when Newstalk went national before I was injuncted, you know, " she laughs nervously. "I was surprised because I didn't expect it to go as far as it went. I think probably both sides might regret it going as far as it did, but hey, it did, and it happened.

"It was very very weird sitting in the High Court with the people you're going to work for that afternoon, in terms of anchoring their news, sitting in front of you taking an action against you. That was a very strange, odd situation to be in. I don't think either side wanted it to get that far. I worked out my notice period once that was all done and dusted.

"On a day to day basis, there was no issue there, I've said it before and I've said it since. On a personal level, working at TV3 and working out those days, it wasn't uncomfortable, it was normal, it was how it always was."

As it transpired, Newstalk came out on top, and couldn't have dreamt of buying the publicity the contract spat brought. "Was it stressful? When I was going through it I probably didn't think it was, but afterwards, I probably realised it was quite stressful. It's always stressful to go to the High Court I think, and I'd hate to be going for any personal reason. At least this was professional, it didn't have too much of an effect on me. It's not something I'd want to go through again."

It was the second major occasion that Byrne had been on the other side of the news. Earlier this year when her three-year marriage to Jersey-born Richard Johnson ended and her Kildare home was sold for 1.7m, Byrne became tabloid property, although remarkably, her cool exterior never betrayed her.

With Byrne in broadcasting limbo, co-anchor Ger Gilroy had to pick up the slack, presenting the programme on his own until Byrne was released from TV3.

He's an unlikely radio star, in a pink jumper and a discreet silver ring perched high on his ear. In a studio, as they get their photographs taken, Byrne makes a last-second change to the picture, "I'd better get rid of this thing, " she says, stretching to move a pink mug with a Playboy bunny logo out of shot. She is all smiles. Gilroy doesn't like having his photograph taken and is visibly uncomfortable.

He steps away and seeks some feedback. "Have you listened to the show? What do you think?"

and pays attention to the answer.

Five years ago, Gilroy joined Newstalk and set up their sports section as editor, bringing staff into the department, now widely regarded as one of the best around. Its centrepiece programme Off The Ball is seen as the best sports programme on air.

His determination to make this new venture work is steely. "We're up against this thing, " he says, meaning Morning Ireland, "which has been around for a very long time, and so, defining ourselves is going to take a little bit of time. We have to keep pushing and testing as we go along. Everything has to be something new and different, and better than the last day.

"I grew up listening to Morning Ireland. That's a while ago now and it hasn't changed significantly. It's reliable and it's consistent, but it's not radio for today, I don't think.

It's your Dad's radio. What we're doing, it's my ambition for it not to be my Dad's radio."

Both stress that the relationship between them as presenters is key to making the programme work.

Do they have much in common apart from their job? "Chalk and cheese, you know, " Gilroy remarks dryly. Byrne knocks her head back and laughs. "I don't know really.

Have we a lot in common?" she turns questioning Gilroy. "He likes sports and things, " she decides.

"Puppy dog tails, sugar and spice and all things nice, " continues Gilroy, "yeah, we probably do.

Very similar age."

"I'm younger." Byrne laughs, "What age are you anyway?"

"I'm 29, " Gilroy announces.

"Shit!" Byrne . . . who turned 30 this year . . . exclaims, snapping her fingers in a polite 'darn'.

"We're from very similar towns, " Gilroy continues. "I'm from Athy in Kildare. And I've never been to Mountrath [in Laois], but I'd imagine it's not that different."

"Athy is probably bigger, " Byrne thinks, "not better, just bigger."

Byrne says she is returning to her "natural home" of radio, having worked for East Coast FM before moving to Jersey with a friend with the intention of ending up in Australia. She stayed there for four years, working for a commercial station and the BBC before returning to Ireland and to TV3 to present Ireland AM before becoming their news anchor.

Gilroy's past is equally diverse; he got fired from FM104 while he was still in college ("they said I didn't have a voice for radio") before getting a job in INN . . . the Dublinbased national radio news service . . . and worked on websites for Setanta sports and an online gambling firm before Newstalk.

For now, the challenge is to convert RTE listeners. "You have to be willing to make mistakes. If you're scared of making mistakes . . . that leads to a fear of actually succeeding, " Gilroy says. "I think that's what separates innovation from the dullness that we see in so many new media ventures and so many old media ventures.

"No. I don't care, I'm not scared at failing. If we work hard, make mistakes and learn from them, we should be ok. And if we're not, at least we went out fighting."

Byrne nods in agreement, "I suppose I believe in taking risks and seeing how the cards fall and going with your gut instinct."

With that, they retire to their office, introducing me to the programme's producer Brian Reynolds, and Byrne says her goodbye with "if you get the word pineapple into the article, the researchers will have a lot of respect for you." Done.

Battle of the breakfast shows

RTE Radio One Morning Ireland:

7am to 9am PRESENTED by Aine Lawlor and Cathal Mac Coille with Richard Downes, on the fringes Morning Ireland is the most listened-to radio programme in the country. But it is by no means invincible, and RTE's reluctance to try new formats and ideas means that it may well become redundant in the ears of a new generation of listeners.

Newstalk are hoping to skim an audience who are fed up with the same old same old.

Today FM The Ian Dempsey Breakfast Show: 7am to 9am POPULAR for its 'Gift Grub' comedy sketches with Mario Rosenstock at the helm. Guests of comedians, band interviews competitions, and the usual mishmash of film reviews, traffic reports, chat and music.

Dempsey had a 10-year run as the presenter of 2FM's breakfast show before signing with Today FM in 1998. In 2003 he won the Meteor Award for best radio DJ.

Followed by the Ray D'Arcy show, Today FM have built a strong and likeable morning schedule.

RTE 2FM Marty In The Morning: 7am to 9am THEwords "youth radio" hardly conjure up images of Marty Whelan, but that's symptomatic of the trouble 2FM is in. This breakfast show is a mix of interviews, competitions and out-dated cheese.

2FM has spent the last few years recycling old names and has been haemorrhaging listeners, with local stations . . . especially Spin and Phantom in Dublin . . . and Today FM poaching listeners.

Some of its presenters are out of touch with the "youth" audience.

A shake-up is expected in 2007.