Latest news

Apologies for long gap on the blog input but we have been busy working through the bureaucracy and regulations in order to get the station on the air. We are hoping to start broadcasting in June so watch this space.

We have received two generous donations from local businesses recently:-

Brendan Chambers of C&C Cellular has donated a Blackberry Mobile Phone which is now the official station line for calls and texts so please use this number to contact us: 087 35 86 300

Michael Flynn of Flynn Computers has also donated a Kodak Printer/Scanner for use in the office.

So many thanks to both for their help and support.

Town Council Presentation

Stephen O'Brien and Michael Kelly gave a powerpoint presentation to Westport Town Council on Thursday 14th October on behalf of West Coast FM. The Councillors were very supportive and have tabled a motion for the November meeting to consider donating funds to the project.

Club 500

We are launching CLUB 500 today which is the 100% tax efficient funding scheme for local businesses. They are able to promote either themselves or their favourite charity/organisation and it can actually cost them nothing!

Check out the web site for more details.

West Coast FM Limited

West Coast FM Limited was officially incorporated on 31st August 2010. The steering committee is now no longer functioning and we are trading as a limited company. The company directors are:-

Stephen O'Brien

Michael Kelly

Jim Reynolds

Judy Parker

Michael McLoughlin

Keith Martin

David Fallon 

Web Site Survey

The new web site now has a survey page for people to express their choice of content for the station ranging from electronic music to news and comedy. This will enable the station to reflect local views and opinions and hopefully create tailor made programming.

New Web Site

The new web site is now up and running and features a video of the people of Westport giving their support for the radio Station.

BAI Meeting

Plans for a radio station to serve the communities of Westport and its surrounding areas advanced a stage further with a well attended open public meeting on the 15^th July  last in “The Bakehouse” Henehans Bridge Street Westport.

Councillor Mr Keith Martin acted as chairperson for the meeting and opened proceedings with a big “ Welcome to Westport” for Ms. Elisabeth Farrelly and Ms. Niamh Ni Bhroin of the BAI ( Broadcasting Authority of Ireland) and a big thank you for all assembled “ on a very wet and windy evening” and apologies “for those with clashing commitments” who contacted him.

Mr. Stephen O'Brien chairperson of the steering commitee for Westcoast Fm then went on to introduce Ms Farrelly and Ms Ni Bhroin and invited them to discuss what is involved in planning for a local radio station and what a community based broadcasting service can do for a locality. An ongoing question and answers format quickly evolved from this, reflecting the diverse age profiles and backgrounds of all attending. This took the meeting at that stage to well over the hour mark.

In closing Mr O'Brien firstly thanked Mr Michael Henehan for the kind use of the venue, the informative and welcome inputs from the BAI  and above all the attendance and active participation of all those who attended. He went on to say “ One of the most interesting things to come out of the meeting was the emphasis on the word community”

This too was the core message from the BAI on the evening “ All the successful local broadcasting models are very much community driven from inception, initial fundraising, and right through, and most importantly to programming formats and content” Mr O'Brien further endorsed this by commenting “ When it is up and broadcasting Westcoast Fm will of course aim to be  firstly entertaining and informative, but it will also act as a platform, a stage, and most importantly a catalyst that combines the many and varied communities within the town and town lands of Westport.”

What next for Westcoast Fm? “ As with all projects of this nature a certain amount of funding has to be generated locally” stated Mr. Michael Kelly PRO Steering Committee for Westcoast Fm. He went on to say “ A local radio station for Westport would be a major “Give back, get back” project, the benefits for those groups, commercial enterprises and organisations that kindly get involved in our fundraising drive are numerous and many fold and we would ask them all to keep this in mind when we do get in touch , to review our business plan and model with them” On a less formal note and perhaps one that reflects the true essence of a community based broadcasting service Mr Kelly also stated that “ We are beginning to put plans together for a major fundraising “Night with the Stars” this would be a showcase for all local artists, groups and organisations with some big name national stars mixed into the equation for good measure we would hope this will happen in early to mid Autumn and I would urge anybody interested to get in touch with us on info@westcoastfm.com. These are the kind of people that will form some of the many strands of our programming content it will be recorded and hopefully provide a rich source of archive material in the future. 

Broadcasting Authority of Ireland

Niamh Ní Bhroin (contract award officer) and Elizabeth Farrelly from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland will attend a public meeting tomorrow (Thursday) 15th July in the Back Bar of Heneghan's in Bridge Street Westport to talk on the setting up of a Community Radio Station in Westport. Please make the effort to attend and bring your friends along too!

Committee Meeting 24th June

At the committee meeting on 24th June the chairman Stephen O'Brien gave a comprehensive breakdown of the people he has contacted re. funding sources and the Office of Public Works building that we are hoping to obtain as a studio base.
The Treasurer David Fallon described the different ways of setting up a limited company and it was agreed to proceed within the next two weeks.
There was also an agreement to mailshot all the local clubs and societies in Westport with the aim of receiving letters of support.

Craol Conference 2010 Croke Park

Here is the Craol report on the June 18th Conference with a few of my rather low res. camera phone photos.

It was the first Craol conference but the signs are already there that it won't be the last.

A booked out attendance heard a rich mix of speakers reflecting both on the current state of community radio and its future role. There was a significant presence of start up stations, and NGO representatives demonstrating the growing appeal of community radio. An interesting scheduling approach meant that speakers were not from community radio stations themselves but from the funders, researchers, the Community and Voluntary, NGOs and service users.

With events like Féile three weeks ago, providing an opportunity for stations to share experience between themselves, the conference was the chance for the sector to start a conversation with the wider world.

The opening Address was delivered by Steve Buckley, president of AMARC, who outlined the global community radio movement of which Craol and it's member stations are a part, with inspiring stories of community radio acting as a force for positive change. Anne O'Brien of NUI Maynooth then outlined the findings of recent BAI funded research into the social benefit provided by Community Radio with insights into how the culture of the stations affect the level of engagement and participation. Anne was followed by the personal story of Kevin Kelly, struck blind since the age of 14 and a volunteer with ICR FM since 15. Michael O'Keefe the Chief executive of the BAI then outlined how the BAI views and supports the sector. Michael described how the new Broadcasting Act places, provides a platform for the BAI to recognise the beneficial outcome of broadcasting and he launched the Community Broadcast Support Scheme 2010) before the conference broke into 3 parallel workshops on building a media literacy literacy work with Jack Byrne, global issues and local actions facilitated by Steve Buckley, and practicalities for start up stations with Diarmuid McIntyre

After lunch, thoughts turned towards the future of community radio with compelling presentations from Kevin Moran, Niamh Farren, and Deirdre Garvey reflecting on why Community radio is relevant to their organisations work and the challenges it faces to realising it's full potential as a force for positive change. Kevin Moran stressed the direct link between good governance which is accountable and representative of the community serves and engages with, and the impacts that a station has on that community. Kevin also made clear the value for public money that investment in Community radio represented with each euro not just impact positively on communities but also acting as multiplier for further community investment. Niamh Farren of Aontas described Community Radio stations as 'learning sites' with a huge potential for delivering training that made a difference to peoples lives way beyond the confines of the station. Deirdre Garvey of the Wheel described community radio as a "stimulus package for community" and stressed that the 25,000 community and voluntary organisations in Ireland represent 25,000 opportunities for engagement and participation.

The conference headed towards a close with a wide-ranging panel discussion on "Our nation and the future role of community radio" facilitated by Paula Healy of the Craol Co-ordinating Committee" Craol Chair Kevin Griffiths. The need to widen the dialogue to internet developments and non-broadcast community media activity pointed up one of the challenges for the future. 

In the closing address, Bob Collins, the chair of the BAI recognised that Community radio was a vibrant movement, and challenged the movement to surround itself not with mirrors reflecting back it's own sense of priority but with windows which allow for partnership and dialogue. The structure of the conference certainly reflected that approach and Discussions on Friday night were already turning to the need to replicate the event next year.

Stephen O'Brien