Community radio station on the move?

KILKEE town councillor and Raidió Corca Baiscinn board member Lily Marrinan Sullivan has vowed to fight “very, very hard,” to keep the radio station in the seaside resort.
The station, which has nine full and part-time staff in addition to several volunteers, has been located in Kilkee Community Centre for more than a decade. It broadcasts to South-West Clare.
The Clare Champion has learned the station may be forced to move from its current venue due to the poor state of the community centre and speculation suggests Kilrush may be its new base.
“Raidió Corca Baiscinn started out in Kilrush many, many years ago and there are one or two people who have always wanted it to move back. That is true. I am totally against it going back to Kilrush.
“It has been built up and developed and established and really has become a very, very professional outfit in Kilkee,” Councillor Marrinan Sullivan commented.
Kilkee-based county councillor Patrick Keane described criticism of the community centre facilities as “an excuse” to move to Kilrush and denied there is a lack of running water in the building.
This claim has been made by Kilkee Town Councillor Paddy Collins, who is also a volunteer at the station.
“To my knowledge, Raidió Corca Baiscinn have had a number of issues with the management of the community centre regarding the state of the building; issues over hot water, leaks, maintenance and draughty windows. To my knowledge, they approached management and the issues weren’t resolved,” Councillor Collins claimed.
“It would be an absolute tragedy for Raidió Corca Baiscinn to have to move out of Kilkee and it’s even a worse tragedy that they feel there’s an issue with the premises that can’t be resolved.
“It seems this is going on for two years. They have no running water within the station. They have to bring in bottled water. They don’t have a tap, they don’t have a sink,” Councillor Collins stated.
However, Councillor Keane disagreed with this assertion. “That’s only an excuse I’d say now,” he said with reference to the mooted move to Kilrush being caused by poor facilities.
“There’s running water for everybody else that’s there. We have told them we will sit down with them and talk in relation to putting in a kitchen beside the radio station and when other rooms become available that they will be available for them as well.
“The library is in there at the moment and when they’re out of it, we told them that they can have that room as well. We’ve told them that on a number of occasions but I think there’s an agenda there to move to Kilrush. I think that’s going on for a number of years. That seems to be ongoing for a long time,” he suggested.
Councillor Marrinan Sullivan said improving the current facilities is key to keeping the station and its employees in Kilkee.
“I will be fighting very, very hard to keep Raidió Corca Baiscinn in Kilkee. I would accept that the facilities as they are now have to be developed. I would hope that the community centre committee would see fit to work very closely with both the board and the employees who have to work in those facilities.
“The problem is if the facilities aren’t right then there is a legitimate case to move. But no matter what, to me the emphasis should be to keep it in Kilkee. There are little enough jobs in Kilkee without losing some of them. It isn’t that Kilrush is inundated with jobs but at least there are some jobs. The work that has been put in by the staff, by the board and particularly by the station manager, Ciarán Ryan, is phenomenal. That to me has happened in Kilkee and that should be one of the main reasons why it should stay in Kilkee,” Councillor Marrinan Sullivan stressed.
Meanwhile, Raidió Corca Baiscinn station manager Ciarán Ryan confirmed the station is examining options.
“We are looking at developing new studios and we’re looking into our options. We’re not sure if that’s within our existing building or whether we’re moving premises,” he said.