West Limerick 102 is a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popular ...

station broadcasting to the western parts of

County Limerick "Remember Limerick" , image_map = Island_of_Ireland_location_map_Limerick.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Munster , subdivision ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The station operates on a non-commercial basis and has a five year licence issued by the

Broadcasting Commission of Ireland The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) ( ga, Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann) was established on 1 October 2009 effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) ( ga, Coimisiún Craolacháin na hÉireann). The BAI is ...

. The station went on air in May, 2005 and was officially opened by then

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legisl ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...

in April 2006. The station has studios in

Newcastle West Newcastle West () or simply Newcastle (''An Caisleán Nua'', formerly anglicized Castlenoe) is a town in west County Limerick, Ireland. It is the largest town in the county, excluding Limerick city, It is also the county town, and sits on the ...

Abbeyfeale Abbeyfeale (; ) is a historic market town in County Limerick, Ireland, near the border with County Kerry. The town is on the N21 road (Ireland), N21 road from Limerick to Tralee, some south-west of Newcastle West and south-east of Listowel and ...

and

Rathkeale Rathkeale () is a town in west County Limerick, in Ireland. It is 30 km (18 mi) southwest of Limerick city on the N21 road to Tralee, County Kerry, and lies on the River Deel. Rathkeale has a significant Irish Traveller population, and ...

. The schedule features a mixture of programmes covering local news and current affairs, as well as music shows appealing to diverse musical tastes, including

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

and

Irish traditional music Irish traditional music (also known as Irish trad, Irish folk music, and other variants) is a genre of folk music that developed in Ireland. In ''A History of Irish Music'' (1905), W. H. Grattan Flood wrote that, in Gaelic Ireland, there w ...

. West Limerick 102 is a member of

CRAOL CRAOL, also called the Community Radio Forum of Ireland,Day, Rosemary (ed.) (2007). ''Bicycle Highway: Celebrating 10 Years of Licensed Community Radio in Ireland.'', Liffey Press, Dublin. . or Community Radio Ireland, is the representative, co-or ...

, the Community Radio Forum of Ireland.

Broadcasting hours

* 07:00 - 01:00 Daily

Broadcasting frequencies

* 102.2 MHz covering the Newcastle West / Rathkeale area * 101.6 MHz covering the Shannon Estuary area * 101.4 MHz covering the Abbeyfeale area * And online at http://www.westlimerick102.ie

History and background

West Limerick 102 is the first ever radio licence issued specifically for West Limerick. The level of interest in having a dedicated station for the region had been tested in 2003/'04 by an unlicensed radio operation called NCW 103 (later known as NCW 106 following a move in frequency). In sharp contrast to many pirate radio operations that had previously operated in the Limerick region, the primary focus of NCW was to measure the feasibility of such a station and, having determined that the interest did indeed exist, the operators of NCW voluntarily shut down the operation and applied to the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) for a licence to serve the area. The initial offering from the BCI was a 30-day temporary licence, and following a significant expansion of the team of volunteers and presenters, the station went on air as "West Limerick Community Radio" for the month of June 2004. Broadcasting solely on 102.2FM, the initial pilot covered a range of about 5 miles from studios in the square in Newcastle West. Following the relative success of the pilot, an application was made to the BCI for a full-time operation, which was subsequently granted, allowing the current station to arrive on-air in May 2005, with an expanded coverage which reaches Limerick City and South Clare, as well as additional dedicated studio facilities in Abbeyfeale and Rathkeale.

References

External links

West Limerick 102 web site
{{Media in County Limerick Community radio stations in Ireland Mass media in County Limerick Radio stations established in 2005