BAI gets expressions for new FM services

The Irish Times reports that there are 13 groups with an interest in new FM radio services in Ireland.

While the 13 groups are not listed in the article there are a few of the well known groups wishing to expand their FM reach listed. 8 Radio, Radio Nova & Country FM.

The 13 would not include the aspirant community radio stations which alone would out number the 13.

FM radio continues to be the dominant platform for radio in Ireland where DAB radio has failed to grow. Last month the independent DAB Mux 2 closed down and a number of years of extended trials.

visit the hurdy gurdy radio museum

Do you like radio? no, do you LOVE radio? if the answer is yes then you must consider a visit to the Hurdy Gurdy Radio Museum in Howth in County Dublin.

The Martello tower stands on the site of a former motte castle of the St. Lawrence Estate. It is also said to have been the site of the original Howth Castle. The museum gets its name from a comment made by the late Seán Lemass (former Taoiseach) while visiting the radio studios of Radio Éireann in Dublin. He referred to the radio service as “the old hurdy-gurdy” as whilst on his visit to the studios the RTÉ Concert Orchestra (then known as the Radio Éireann Light Orchestra) was tuning up… and the sound was reminiscent of a ‘hurdy-gurdy’.

The museum first opened in 2003, Pat Herbert, the curator, had been looking for a suitable premises to display his vast collection of radios, gramophones and other radio-related paraphernalia. Fingal County Council offered the recently refurbished Martello Tower to Pat for use as a museum. Pat maintains the museum as a labour of love. It is not run as a commercial enterprise. He enthusiastically gives of his time voluntarily, purely for the pleasure and enjoyment he derives from it. He is joined in his efforts by a team of volunteers, who all provide tours and introductions to the collection.

visit the Hurdy Gurdy web site before visiting in person.

visit the hurdy gurdy radio museum

Getting Started in Shortwave Listening

[reblog] EI6GSB Conor Farrell writes

Have you ever listened to your own local or national radio stations and wondered what similar stations are like around the world? Maybe you’ve listened to news bulletins in the US and wondered what was being reported in the UK about the same events. These days, it’s easy to get the information we need over the internet, and I’m often asked why I bother listening to radio when I can just stream the audio online. Those of an older vintage will know that receiving radio signals from around the world was a normal and everyday experience, and that listening to radio has a certain “quality” that online digital audio streams simply can’t provide.

read the article in full

Getting Started in Shortwave Listening

Big Beat Radio 1986/2016

12 months ago today Radio.ie was deployed to broadcast a very special radio station reunion of Big Beat Radio, 30 years after its first transmissions in Baldoyle village in 1986.

Hear again the 2016 station and some special programmes replayed from 1986.

Ireland first independent radio station 1988

St Ita’s Hospital Radio was the first radio station in Ireland to receive one of the new broadcast licenses when the Minister for Communications of the day (Ray Burke) introduced the broadcasting bill in 1988. St. Ita’s is part of the Irish Hospital Radio Network and in 2017 will be broadcasting for 34 years.


Still broadcasting from the hospital the station can be heard locally on 89.5FM and also online.

Ireland first independent radio station 1988
pic @fingalarts / twitter