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High hopes for all-Inishowen radio
26.09.08
Inishowen Community
Radio (ICRfm) is hoping it can soon achieve its
dream of expanding coverage to the entire peninsula.
The Carn-based station has welcomed the announcement
by the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) that
it is seeking expressions of interest nationally
from parties interested in securing community radio
broadcasting contracts. ICRfm, whose franchise
currently covers only north Inishowen, will be
staking a claim for a licence to cover all of
Inishowen.
The station was initially awarded a licence in 1999
but the group behind the project were dismayed to
discover it was limited to north Inishowen only.
Station manager Jim Doherty explained that, despite
their best efforts over the years to extend the
franchise area, they were repeatedly told this would
not be possible. He said they were advised that the
only way south Inishowen could have a community
service was if the community there set up its own
station. As a result, the South Inishowen Community
Radio (SICR) group was established in 2003 and was
awarded a licence in 2005. |
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Jim, who is SICR
chairperson, admits it has been "a very frustrating
time" but that he understands the reasoning behind
it.
“Minister Eamon O Cuiv told us that he couldn’t fund
two separate stations in Inishowen and that he
simply couldn’t understand why we needed to have two
stations here anyway.
"He queried this also with the BCI and advised us to
discuss the |
matter with them again.
He also stated that if the BCI awarded an
all-Inishowen licence then his department would
seriously consider allocating extra funding to ICR
to operate the expanded service,” said Jim.
SICR and ICR discussed their options with the BCI in
January and pressed the case again for one licence
for the whole peninsula. This time the BCI agreed it
might be considered in the next round of licence
applications. Since the last meeting with the BCI,
SICR has handed back the licence for south Inishowen
and has amalgamated with ICR.
“Since then we have had ongoing discussions with the
BCI to advance the case for an all-Inishowen service
and thankfully this comes a lot closer with this
week's announcement. The deadline is October 23 and
if our expression of interest is deemed to be of
merit then we will be invited to make a full
application. I suppose this is a case of us coming
full circle and finally completing some unfinished
business,” added Jim.
A new all-Inishowen service will not come cheap and
will require two new transmission sites, probably on
Scalp mountain and Porthaw with studios in
Tullyarvan Mill in Buncrana, explained the ICRfm
manager.
The station will also need to employ extra staff to
operate the new studios and will also require
considerable voluntary input from the community, he
said. |
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