Tuned in: The Community Radio Making Waves in Loughrea

With around 5,000 monthly listeners, Loughrea Community Radio — which launched in May 2020 — is growing fast. This week, we caught up with founders Denise Christie and Dave Gardiner to find out more about how the volunteer-run radio station has been lifting spirits over the past year. 

The Showrunners

Both Denise and Dave are entrepreneurs: Denise runs a natural fertility clinic called Health and Harmony, while Dave is a full-time musician and owner of the well-established Galway band, Who Knows. 

They both have their own shows on the community radio, based around their own interests and skill sets and catering to different audiences. On Denise's show A Vibrant Life, she 'interviews guests who have their own powerful stories about how they are now living a healthful and vibrant life.' 

Meanwhile, Dave's musical background informs 'The Afternoon Show,' a music and current affairs show which invites listeners to share their memories associated with music old and new. Both presenters also do features like business shoutouts, spot adverts, and informative segments.

Denise and Dave's Shows

Where it All Began

A call to action and a community meeting in October 2019 saw about 40 people come together to flesh out the idea of community radio. Of that initial group, Denise says, about one-third remain involved with the project as volunteers. 

Since then, the radio has grown to include 26 presenters and 24 shows — all broadcast live and online over the weekend. 

In the beginning, members presented from their home offices and bedrooms, kitted out with the standard equipment: a mic, headphones, laptop, loads of cables. Securing studio space for an endeavour that is entirely funded by volunteer donations and sponsorship partners, such as the Loughrea Chamber of Commerce and local businesses, is expensive and hard to come by. 

Recently, they secured a small studio in the town that does the job perfectly. However, a better and more sustainable option may be on the horizon for them; a generous offer from a local businessman means they may soon receive a purpose-built studio of their very own, located at the newest shopping complex in town. 

Wide Variety of Shows

From shows like 'Global Grooves' that spotlight world music to the Sports Show, Country Jukebox, and talk shows that centre on wellness and current events, Loughrea Community Radio is as topically diverse as they come.

They've had their fair share of celebrity guests too: big names like Daniel O'Donnell and Dermot Gavin have already made an appearance on music and gardening shows. 

Asked if they had to go looking for people and show topics, Denise says 'It all happened quite organically. The only one we had to actively seek out was the Irish-speaking show (An Brekkie Breac)... I think we've been very lucky.'

Dave adds 'There's a huge variety over the 24 shows, it's phenomenal really because we didn't go looking for it. The thing about the national and commercial (stations) now is that they're very restricted in what they can do, and it's really all based around the top 40 charts... and that's the beauty of community radio, you can do absolutely anything.'

He jokes 'If you wanted to talk for an hour about how to build a wall, you could — and you'd probably get a few listeners!'

Bringing the Community Together

Speaking on the community impact, Denise says they've received lots of heartwarming feedback.

A client of hers recently mentioned that the PK Country Show helped them through the lockdowns and a particularly difficult year. 'She said it's the highlight of her week,' Denise says. 'And when you get feedback like that...to be honest it gave me goosebumps, to know that it brings them such joy.'

Dave adds that they avoided talking about anything Covid-19 related, in order to give the community a break from the standard news. 'We really wanted to keep the station positive and light-hearted enough... to give people a lift when they were tuning in every week.'

There's no doubt that the music industry has been particularly badly hit this year. Nevertheless, Denise mentions that she's heartened by the number of tracks they receive from budding musicians.

'Every single week, we get upwards of 20 submissions from Irish artists, who are still recording. It's really lovely to see our name out there, and that they know we're here to support them.' Denise first listens to their tracks, and then sends them to the presenter and show that they're best suited for. 

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Loughrea Community Radio is an excellent example of how communities can and should come together to share what they're passionate about. The variety of shows also serves as a reminder that everyone is different, but that's ok, as long as you share the common goal of making your little corner of the world a better place.  

Having celebrated their first birthday last month, they're now trying to raise funds for the next step: getting set up on FM. If you're interested in supporting them, they've set up a GoFundMe page to help purchase all the necessary equipment for going live on an FM wavelength. 

You can listen in on their website, on the Radio Garden app, liveradio.ie , onlineradiobox.ie and Amazon Alexa.