I’ve just had the honour and pleasure of being elected Chairperson of 103.2 Dublin City fm for the third year (Nov. 2018). This is the station which broadcasts to our capital city and has a listenership of 125,000 people each day. It is a community station staffed, mainly, by volunteers, with a volunteer board and a professionalism that would leave others in the shade.

Dublin is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, vibrant hub and the station reflects that vibrancy. We broadcast programmes in English, Irish, Brazilian, Polish, Russian and Chinese. Every week we have programmes dealing with LGBTQ issues, mental health, books, media, death, hobbies, charity, theatre, astronomy, travel, education, science, business, scouting, motoring, volunteering, history, film, European news and sports.

We have every type of music programme you could imagine, from roots to rock, Elvis to traditional, Latin American and sounds of the cinema – with lots more in between.

We are the only station in Ireland to host Steven Van Zandt from Bruce Springsteen’s E-Street Band with his wonderful syndicated music show, and we have Tom MacCoughren’s very popular maritime programme as well.

Along the way, we keep Dublin’s traffic moving each morning and evening through our LiveDrive programme which broadcasts from the Dublin City Councils Traffic Centre – you can’t get much more up-to-date than that! We also have one of the most popular mid-morning shows broadcasting on Irish radio – Good Morning Dublin.

In my first year as chairperson we pitched for (and won) a new 10-year broadcasting licence. In my second year, we introduced new structures and reviewed all areas of operations. In this, my third year, we are facing the challenge of finding a new home for the station – we are on the move!

Each year, since the foundation of the station over 25 years ago (as Anna Livia) we have presented a chairperson’s report at the AGM. Until this year, it has always been verbal. The 2018 report has been published as the first of a new, annual, initiative.

So, what can you do? Join us as a volunteer. Help us find a new premises. Share your expertise with listeners as a specialist broadcaster. Get your community group involved with our radio community. After all – 125,000 listeners can’t be wrong!