Radio station kept Cork island community connected during the pandemic

WHEN it comes to community, the residents of West Cork’s Bere Island certainly know the meaning of the word.

In that far-flung outpost of the Rebel County, keeping in contact is vitally important.

Often cut off by sea and with poor internet and phone connections, islanders have always looked out for each other, and during the recent Covid lockdowns, it was no different.

Despite their remote location, they did have one advantage over some other small rural communities - their very own Community Radio Station, which certainly lived up to its name.

Established in 2019 as part of the EU Grassroots Wavelengths Project, and broadcasting every Sunday morning on 100.1FM, it has proved a huge success on Bere Island, and also picking up listeners on the mainland too and via the internet right across the world.

Staffed by dedicated volunteers, the station was established with the help of Paul Broderick from West Cork FM and has proved to be a vital community resource.

When many people on the island had to cocoon during the Covid lockdowns, the radio station was able to broadcast Mass direct from the home of Fr Noel Spring, keeping a vital community connection going.

Eileen Murphy, who has been volunteering for the station from early on, told The Echo that it is a local radio station in the truest sense.

“It helps the community,” explained Eileen. “It is really local. We have people listening from America, Italy, Argentina, all over the world.

“It brings a piece of home to people from the Island who have moved away, it’s that feeling of home.”

Eileen moved from the mainland 60 years ago as a 15-year-old, and she feels that the station reflects the uniqueness of life on Bere Island.

“We are an island community and I think island life is unique. Maybe not as much as it used to be, but the islands all have their own characters, their own ways, and they are special places because of that, I think. The radio station is part of it now.”

Eileen first got involved when she was asked to interview one of the candidates at the last local elections. Although a keen follower of current affairs, she wasn’t sure if she would be able to do it.

“I was nervous about it, but they persuaded me and the first interview went very well, and then I just took to it really and I ended up interviewing all the candidates.”

Eileen said that the experience gave her great confidence.

“I discovered in myself things I could do that I never imagined I would be doing.

“When I was young and growing up, I was told I wouldn’t amount to anything, so it was really a learning experience for me, to discover yes, I can do this,” she said.

One of Eileen’s proudest moments was interviewing former RTÉ reporter Charlie Bird.

“He would have covered stories down here for many years and it was great to be able to speak to him about his life.”

The station tries to cover a wide range of topics that are of interest to local people, as Eileen explained.

“We cover all sorts of issues and we aren’t afraid to tackle the difficult topics either. With domestic violence and violence against women being in the news a lot lately, we felt it was important to cover that locally as well.

“For me, the most important thing in life is to respect other people. Many men were not brought up to respect women and that’s a real problem. Everyone deserves respect whatever your sex or race or gender, it’s the most important thing,” she added.

“It’s certainly not all serious either, we try to have a little bit of fun and bring some cheer to people, especially in the last while.

“The station has been a real lifeline for a lot of people in the last couple years, keeping them in touch and bringing Mass to people too, who couldn’t go,” she said.

Bere Island Community Radio has a limited license from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland that allows them to broadcast for three hours every Sunday. The programme starts with a live broadcast of Mass followed by two hours of features, news, music and sport.

“We have two presenters on together so we can have a chat about things, discuss things, and then we’ll also have people phoning in so we get plenty of views on what we are discussing,” said Eileen.

“As well as current issues, then we’ll have things like gardening, cookery, sport and some music too.

“A popular item is the Favourite Five, where we ask someone with connections to the area to pick five favourite songs to play.”

The station has done outside broadcasts too, including from Arranmore Island in Donegal and near neighbours Sherkin Island.

The station also encourages local young people from the island’s national school and transition year students from Castletownbere to get involved.

“It’s great to see the involvement of the schools,” said Eileen.

“I really love to see the younger generation getting involved and it’s great for them to be able to have a go at real live radio. To be able to interview someone is a real skill and it’s something I’ve discovered I can do.

“It gives you great confidence and it’s the same for the young people and the other volunteers too. Once you do it, you realise you do have something to contribute and it’s great to be involved in a small way.”

For Eileen, the work of the station never stops and there is always a new issue or local topic to be discussed.

“Since the restrictions have been lifted, we’ve been finding out from people what it means to them to finally be looking forward and local businesses trying to get back to some sort of normality.

“It’s probably the biggest issue here, like it is for the rest of the country,” she said.

“It really is local radio in the true sense and people really seem to appreciate it. We are also bringing Beara to our island families abroad too.”