The Clare Champion Clare news, sport, entertainment and local notes
THERE will be a new addition to Raidió Corca Baiscinn’s line-up this month with a new arts show bringing culture to the listeners of West Clare.
The show will be presented by volunteer broadcaster Joan Hanrahan and will cover happenings and events both near and far. Art, music, theatre, photography, writing and poetry will all be among the subjects covered in the up-coming programmes.
The programmes will be broadcast on Wednesday and Fridays, with the first show going out last Wednesday evening from 8.30 to 9pm. It will be repeated on Friday at 5pm.
The opening show features Ann Rynne, who lives in Miltown Malbay and is a sister of Christy Moore and Luka Bloom. In addition, it has a preview of the Woody Guthrie weekend being held in the Market House in Miltown Malbay from September 7 to 10.
Programming co-ordinator Derrick Lynch explained, “We are very excited by this innovative addition to our schedule and Joan is really starting with a packed show. The arts and culture scene in Clare, and West Clare specifically, is really vibrant and this weekly programme allows us to highlight all the events and happenings. We’d encourage people who want to bring their activities to Joan’s attention to call us on 065 9083022 or email info@rcb.ie so they can be considered for future programmes.”
Derrick said that the show will offer a new opportunity to people involved in the arts who mightn’t receive much recognition. “There’s a lot of local artists that wouldn’t get a voice otherwise that she’s going to pick up on. We had a show similar to this 12 months or a year and a half ago but that volunteer moved on because of employment.”
He feels Radio Corca Baiscinn has been quite successful in carving out its own niche. “It’s gone from strength to strength really. We’ve been there since 1999 and we’re based in the community centre in Kilkee. We try to engage with as many local voices as we can. Our main remit is to give a voice to people who wouldn’t have one. We focus on doing something commercial stations don’t, we’re as far apart from a commercial station as you could have.”
Derrick feels the station engages with the local community very extensively. “We have a show on Tuesdays and Thursdays that’s broadcast from the local nursing home and the patients get requests played for them from 2.20pm until 3.30pm. Prior to that, we record morning mass and we broadcast that. On Friday night, we have entirely youth programming, we have everything from punk to rock and pop, rap, underground music.
“On Thursday, we have a programme with the Brothers of Charity called What’s On. What their workers do is go through The Clare Champion and go through the events that are coming up in the West Clare area, the pub guides and that. We also have Enable Ireland doing a music show every week as well.”
