The core aim of every community radio station is community development using radio as a way to bring people together and Jim has been involved in Scariff Bay Community Radio since 2015 when it began broadcasting, initially solely online.

“In 2017 we got our first FM licence. The normal first FM licence is a 30-day licence, so we broadcast every Saturday for about six months. We did the same in 2018. In 2019 we got our first hundred-day licence and with that we broadcast for 50 weekends, both Saturday and Sunday. We have basically been doing that since 2019.”

Even for the couple of weekends each year they can’t go on the radio, they still keep things ticking over online.

While the station hopes to be awarded a full community radio licence that would allow them to broadcast daily, it will be for the group to choose how often to broadcast.

“We are a voluntary group and we reckon at this point in time we haven’t the personnel or the resources, or the population I would say, to go seven days a week. For us, it’s a hobby, it’s an interest and we don’t want to be stressed from it,” said Jim who is also the station’s chairperson, although he plans to pass on this role shortly.

He feels three days a week is very realistic with the level of interest that they have:

“We are getting more and more people in doing programmes and we feel that (broadcasting on) Friday, Saturday and Sunday would be fine. We have a board of nine people and at last count we had about 90 volunteers. Some volunteers (are) on every week, some (are) on every two or three weeks, some every three months. It varies and it depends on what they do.

“We have sports commentators and analysts on every week for the hurling and camogie season, then they wouldn’t be on as much in the wintertime. We have some people who aren’t on the mic at all, but who help out behind the scenes.”

Many of those involved in the station are heavily involved in other local organisations and bring a valuable perspective to Scariff Bay.

“Lots of our volunteers would be in other organisations like Comhaltas, or like Conradh na Gaeilge or the GAA or rugby or athletics or the ICA.

“If all our volunteers weren’t in any organisations, they wouldn’t be well placed to tell us what is going on. We’re an outlet for those organisations to spread their message or say what they do, that kind of thing.”

Community radio is good for those who volunteer.

“It keeps the brain ticking over,” said Jim. “It brings you out, there’s a social benefit in meeting people and in working with other people with the same interest. One of our volunteers jokes that it keeps him off the tablets!

No station has gone for the license Scariff is seeking since 2017, when Community Radio Kilkenny City were granted one. Today, that station is broadcasting seven days a week.

For more information on community radio in Ireland, visit CRAOL, the Community Radio Forum of Ireland Society Ltd: www.craol.ie

What does Scariff Bay Community Radio currently broadcast?

As well as covering local news and sport, part of what’s important for community radio is to give the community it serves a voice.

“We have to provide social benefit,” said station manager Jim Collins. It is part of their remit to support community groups, to give people an opportunity to tell their story, or to get involved in programme-making. Every weekend, the station broadcasts a variety of sports, current affairs and music shows.

It has a sporting-themed discussion show, and during the hurling and camogie seasons, the station ensures that every club in the catchment area features in one of its live match commentaries.

The station’s flagship current affairs programme is called Saturday Chronicle, broadcasting every Saturday morning for two hours.

“We have a programme called Local Media where we talk about the Clare Champion and the Clare Echo. It’s kind of like an hour-long version of “It Says in the Papers”. We go through as many things as we have time for in the two papers,” said Jim.

The station has a variety of music programmes – covering traditional, pop/rock, country and more – and it also encourages local musicians to come in and play live in studio.

See their programme schedule here: http://www.scariffbayradio.com/