Ireland

The IBI has today highlighted the challenges facing core News and Current Affairs in the sector.
It comes following the announcement of the recovery plan in RTÉ and in the context of publicity about major and imminent Government decisions on broadcast funding.
The IBI believes believe it is absolutely vital that the crisis in News and Current Affairs in the sector is central to consideration by Government of wider funding for broadcasting.
The Independent Broadcasters of Ireland Chief Executive, Michael Kelly, said: “I would be highly concerned if the problems in RTÉ as outlined today were to be addressed in isolation without taking into account the need to preserve the core, day-to-day, News and Current Affairs in the independent sector, which constitutes very important Public Service Content provided to listeners by our stations. Currently zero funding from the Exchequer or TV licence is provided to the independent sector for its core News and Current Affairs.
“The survival of broadcast media is not just about RTÉ, and I have today written to the leaders of all of the political parties emphasising the nature of the crisis and seeking meetings to discuss it,” he said.
He continued: “While most of the public attention in the past year has related understandably to issues and problems around RTÉ, we in independent radio would emphasise that we face extremely serious challenges in funding and resourcing the specific News and Current Affairs part of our services.
“Against the background or major funding and resourcing challenges, it is clear that none of the schemes proposed up to now can help the core News and Current Affairs to survive and thrive in our sector in the near term.
“The Independent Broadcasters of Ireland believes that interim financial support can be, and must be, urgently made available to our sector. There is a crisis in News and Current Affairs in our sector and the direction of travel at the moment is that it could disappear, as has happened in regions in the UK and US.
“Helping save News and Current Affairs in Ireland’s independent radio sector can be done at a small fraction of the funding provided for broadcasting overall. Action is urgently needed now.” […]

Live 95 has announced that Down Syndrome Limerick is the station’s new charity partner.
The charity provides support and services to people with Down Syndrome and their families, the running of which require ongoing fundraising campaigns.
Live 95 Station Director, Joe Nash, said: “Choosing one good cause over another is obviously an almost impossible task, but we ultimately felt that Down Syndrome Limerick was a great fit for the radio station, for the next two years.
“We were inspired by Michelle Coughlan and her team of volunteers for their dedication to their cause and their passion to educate everyone about the amazing people who use their service.
“I also want to thank Julie White and Tess Hughes from our team for their significant contribution during this process.”
Sales and Marketing Manager with Live 95, Julie White, is looking forward to this collaboration: “We will use our ability to reach the Limerick audience to spread the word about Down Syndrome Limerick far and wide, including increasing understanding of their services and those who use them, while also helping to focus attention on their fundraising initiatives in Limerick”, she said.
Gillian Devlin, Alison Reeves, Kate Kennedy, Julie White, Luke Liddy, Emma Dinneen and Jodi Mulcahy with Michelle Coughlan and Ellen Tuffy, Down Syndrome Limerick been announced as Charity Partners with Limerick ‘s Live 95 FMPicture Brendan Gleeson
Chair of Down Syndrome Limerick, Michelle Coughlan, was delighted to link up with Live 95. She stated: “We are passionate about increasing awareness about our family members with Down Syndrome, while helping them to participate as fully as possible in our community and raising much needed funds for the resources we provide to people with Down Syndrome and their families. We are confident Live 95 will help us to do all of this and more, in the months ahead.”
Live 95 will be working with Down Syndrome Limerick on a variety of initiatives, using its on-air, online and social media platforms to spread the word and tell the stories of the people who make this local charity a success.
The station says it is confident that the generosity of its listeners will once again come to the fore for a great cause. […]

Raidió na Life has won the Radio Station of the Year award at the Celtic Media Awards 2024 in Cardiff.
It’s the second time the station has won the award in the past three years.
Raidió na Life was nominated side by side with nine other stations this year: 6 BBC radio stations: BBC Radio Scotland, BBC Radio Wales, BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle, BBC Radio nan Gàidheal, BBC Radio Cymru; Galicia’s Radio Galega; along with RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta and Raidió Fáilte.
Muiris Ó Fiannachta, Radio na Life Station Manager, said: “It is a huge source of pride for us to win Radio Station of the Year at the Celtic Media Festival 2024 in Cardiff, especially as it comes on the heels of us winning the award in Quimper in Britanny two years ago, in 2022.
“As we compete with big stations with huge resources behind them, we are incredibly proud of this achievement. We are so happy that the judges recognised that there is something special going on at Raidió na Life – the energy, the diversity, the vibrancy, the innovation, the fun and the spirit of our station; the wonderful programmes and the a wide selection of content which we broadcast to the Irish-speaking community, not only in the greater Dublin area, where we can be heard on 106.4FM, but nationwide and worldwide online.
“This is fantastic recognition for the creative, energetic work done by our brilliant team of volunteers in Raidió na Life. It’s also a great boost to and a huge vote of confidence in our wonderful staff who perform small miracles every day, keeping the show on the road and the station on the air.
“When you consider that there are more staff working on some programmes on some of the other stations we competed with this year than there are working in Raidió na Life in its entirety, this truly is a huge achievement by the Raidió na Life team and I cannot praise them enough.” […]

Aifric O’Connell has joined 2FM Breakfast as Lottie Ryan and David O’Reilly team up for afternoon drive.
2FM Breakfast with Donncha, Carl and Aifric started today, as Aifric O’Connell joined Carl Mullan and Donncha O’Callaghan each day from 6am for early offerings of music, chats, listener call-ins and comedy to kick-start the day.
From 9-12pm Monday-Friday, The Laura Fox Show sees Laura at the helm for craic and chat and tunes, favourites including What the Fox?, and the voice bending daily Autotune Fortune challenge. Tracy Clifford on 2FM from 12-3pm, brings listeners through their lunch with new tunes, as well as big hits, and the latest sounds from the legendary Studio 8 sessions.
Lottie Ryan and David O’Reilly will present Monday-Friday on 2FM Drive with Lottie and David. They’re set to make the nation’s commute a lot brighter and happier with great tunes, giveaways and giggles all the way home from 3-6pm.
Game On continues from 6-7pm, bringing all the latest sports news, with Marie Crowe and Ruby Walsh. Beta Da Silva on 2FM airs Mon-Thurs 7-9pm, where Beta invites listeners to lock in, chill, and discover all the latest in the music world, with new tunes, new projects, gig news, album breakdowns and a selection of music across all genres.
Jenny Greene curates a selection of the finest Indie and Electronic music, from 9-11pm Monday-Thursday on The Greene Room, including chats with names from the world of music, film and entertainment, followed by Dan Hegarty – The Alternative from 11pm-1am, showcasing an alternative to sleep, with alt rock, electro pop, hip hop and reggae.
Tara Walsh kickstarts Saturday and Sunday mornings from 7-9am with Weekend Breakfast on 2FM. Bláthnaid Treacy is on air Saturday and Sunday from 9am-12pm, and Roz & Emma will keep listeners entertained each weekend from 12-3pm. Conor Behan presents 3-6pm across Saturday and Sunday, followed by The Electric Disco with Jenny Greene, and Dave Treacy from 8-10pm.
Head of RTÉ 2FM Dan Healy said: “We are very happy that for the summer we are strengthening our schedule with 2FM homegrown talent with Aifric, Lottie and David. 2FM has always been programmed with a mix of presenters who have learnt their craft here with personalities from outside who have built a profile with younger audiences.
“It always starts with the audience first and this summer’s schedule is built with only them in mind. I believe that 2FM has the most exciting mission in RTÉ. Our mission is to inform and entertain younger audiences with wonderful music, chat and sport. The summer is full of music and sport and that is where we will be.
“We will be working hard to continue to build a station with the next generation of 2FM presenters and there’s no shortage of those.” […]

Rachael English is lined up as the new presenter of News at One on RTÉ Radio 1 following the retirement of Bryan Dobson.
After 14 years as part of the team of Morning Ireland presenters, the broadcaster will move to be a permanent presenter on RTÉ Radio 1’s flagship lunchtime radio programme.
Speaking about the move for the first time, Rachael English said: “One of my first jobs in RTÉ was as a reporter on the News at One. It was also where I first worked as a stand-in presenter.
“I’ve always hoped that one day I’d get to return, so I’m delighted to be doing so now. It feels like coming home. It’s been a privilege to present Morning Ireland, and I’d like to thank the colleagues who have made getting up at 4am bearable. I’m looking forward to working with the fantastic team on the News at One.”
Deirdre McCarthy, Managing Director of News & Current Affairs said: “Rachael is a highly respected journalist and outstanding broadcaster. I am delighted that she will now be joining the exceptional team of journalists on our flagship News at One programme.
Rachael joined RTÉ in 1991 as a 2fm news reader and later worked as a reporter for Morning Ireland; the News at One, Today With Pat Kenny and RTÉ Television News. Rachael’s first full-time presenting job was on Five Seven Live on RTÉ Radio 1. She presented The Late Debate and Saturday View before joining Morning Ireland in 2010. She has also worked on a number of special series. These include The Constituency which focused on the issues and candidates in all of the Dail’s constituencies and The Big Science Debate where an expert panel discussed the ethical challenges presented by scientific developments.
Since 2002, she has been a presenter on RTÉ Radio 1’s General Election results programmes. She has also presented coverage of local, European and presidential election counts and has anchored election coverage from Belfast, London and Washington. As a reporter and presenter, she has worked on a huge range of national and international stories from the signing of the Good Friday Agreement to the Olympics Games to the 9/11 attacks. In 2022, Rachael’s outstanding contribution to radio broadcasting in Ireland was recognised and she was inducted into the IMRO Awards Radio Hall of Fame.
Rachael is the author of seven novels, most recently the top-ten bestseller, Whatever Happened to Birdy Troy?. A communications graduate of Dublin City University, she began her career in local radio at Clare FM in Ennis. She is a native of Shannon in Co. Clare.
Rachael will beginning presenting the News at One on RTÉ Radio 1 on Monday 15th July. […]

The sixteenth annual Cork’s 96FM’s Giving for Living Radiothon has ended with a total of €409,178 being raised.
It brings the cumulative raised so far by Radiothons run by the Wireless Ireland station since 2008 to more than €6.5million.
Money raised this year is to support Cancer Services in Cork provided through the five local charity partners, Mercy Hospital Foundation, CUH Charity; Marymount Hospice, ARC Cancer Support House and Breakthrough Cancer Research.
Radiothon ran on-air and online from 6am to 7pm on Thursday and Friday, and 10am till 6pm on Saturday.
Listeners held fundraising events right across Cork City and County. These included “Coffee Breaks” and a “Shorts and Sunglasses” event.
Bus Eireann drivers operated the city’s biggest change collection box at Cork’s Bus Station on Parnell Place. Over €10,000 was raised through this initiative.

Hundreds of organisations took part in “Jersey Day” on Friday. Listeners were encouraged to wear their favourite sports jersey at work or at school and to raise money for Radiothon.
All inbound and outbound calls across the three days were handled on by Abtran at their state of the art call centre in Blackrock at no cost to Radiothon.
Group Station Director of Cork’s 96FM & C103 Kieran McGeary said: “Once again, the listeners to Cork’s 96FM have shown huge generosity and we deeply appreciate it. This amazing result shows the strength of the trust between our listeners and Cork’s 96FM. It also shows the high regard people have for Radiothon’s five charity partners.” […]