For a digital radio company we did something interesting today … we put one of our stations on FM.

Raidió Rí-Rá, our Top 40 format Irish language station, has been quietly ticking away for the past year. With the lack of DAB activity at the moment we decided to run the station under a temporary FM licence in the run up to St Patricks Day. It’s broadcasting to the four main cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway and was formally launched on-air today by Minister for the Gaeltacht Mr Eamon O’Cuív.

The reaction has been phenomenal. The Irish language community are delighted to at last have a contemporary station that breaks the notion that Irish is old-fashioned or “un-cool”.  It also adds proof to our theory that niche formats attract small but highly active and loyal listeners.

Rí-Rá will finish on FM on March 22nd after which we’ll continue online at raidiorira.ie along with plans for digital cable and DAB when it returns in the summer.

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