Industry sources said that the company hoped to complete the sale by the end of June. Emap's preferred option is to sell the three stations as a group but it may consider selling them separately depending on the offers it receives.

The sale will be conducted by Today FM chief executive Willie O'Reilly. Emap is understood to have valued the three stations at around 190m.

The only media organisations which have publicly stated their interest in the stations are Thomas Crosbie Holdings, the owners of the Irish Examiner, and NewWave Media, a Scottish venture owned by former Scottish Radio Holdings chief executive Richard Finlay.

Many prominent players in the Irish radio market have shown little interest to date in acquiring Emap's stations.

Several, including UTV and River Media, are understood to be concerned about the price being sought for the stations by Emap.

Meanwhile, Denis O'Brien's Communicorp, which owns Newstalk as well as 98FM and Spin 103.8 in Dublin, is said to be more interested in other European markets.