History

Tramore Community Radio was first thought about in mid 2009. A series of public meetings were held in the late 2009, culminating in a public meeting in the Grand Hotel, Tramore on January 13th 2010. We aim to have the station on air shortly after Christmas 2010.

How it all came about:

‘Why not?’

‘Why not indeed?’

Well that was about it, how TCR FM was started.  Mark and Garrett having a chat wondering about the possibility of starting up a radio station, online that was, seeing as neither had an idea of how to go about setting up a ‘real’ radio station.  The reasoning was that they both wanted to do something like a community radio station, but were unsure exactly how to go about it.

Within a few hours Mark rings Garrett:

“Did you ever hear of community radio licences?” “No.”  “Well, there are such things”.

Garrett and Mark look into it a bit and then decide, again, why not?

That was July 2009,

Having a masters degree in multi-media, Mark had suggested an internet radio station.  Mark then realised that there existed the possibility of establishing a community radio licence, a relatively recent licensing possibility, whereby a licence would be granted to a ‘community of interest or place’.

Tramore seemed to offer an ideal opportunity for the establishment of such a station, and so Tramore Community Radio was born, at least in the minds of its two originators.

After some discussion, Mark and Garrett decided to host a public meeting to gauge local support for the station.

The first meeting was held upstairs in the Vic and seven people attended.  A committee was formed and another meeting planned.  Posters were put up around the town and word of mouth also was employed to expand knowledge about the prospective station.

The next meeting was held on 13 November 2009.  This time about 50 people showed up.

Realising that this enthusiasm had great potential, Mark and Garrett set about doing what had to be done to establish a community radio station, according to official government licensing criteria, laid out clearly by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, a new body encompassing the old Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and some new roles in TV and radio licensing).

They contacted CRAOL, a forum for community radio operators in Ireland and their help and ongoing guidance has helped TCR FM to get where it is, and continue on its path toward broadcasting.  Their ‘development ladder’ is a great resource to help aspiring station operators make their way through the licensing, funding and set-up processes.

In line with CRAOL guidelines and the BAI criteria, another public meeting was held this time with a view to inviting the BAI to Tramore with the intention of clearly showing the broadcasting authorities that TCR FM was serious, that the local community is firmly behind it and that the community could muster the support, both financial and non-financial to get the station going.

The next public meeting was held on 13 January 2010, this time in the Grand Hotel in Tramore, which was attended by about 100 people. Since then, work has commenced on the various strands that will make up the station – the premises, the broadcasting, fund raising and developing the online presence.

After a year and half of paperwork and planning, TCR FM broadcast on 104.1 FM and online for the first time on Saturday May 7th 2011.