Inter-church group seeks FM licence

An inter-church group has formally expressed interest in being allocated Dublin's last FM licence.

Father John Dardis, of the Dublin Catholic archdiocese's press office, said a formal expression of interest had been submitted to the Independent Radio and Television Commission (IRTC) on Friday.

An ad-hoc group, set up to investigate the idea, includes representatives from the Catholic and Church of Ireland arch dioceses of Dublin and six religious orders (Jesuits, Dominicans, Loreto sisters, Sisters of Mercy, Divine Word and Vincentian fathers).

Invitations have been extended to the Presbyterian and Methodist Churches, and these are being considered.

It is expected the IRTC will meet in July to consider expressions of interest in the 106.8FM licence.

Advertisements are likely to be placed in the papers in the autumn with hearings probably in December. A decision on the licence is likely by the new year.

Father Dardis said the ad-hoc group was determined the station would not be of the Christian evangelical type, as is popular in parts of the US.

They did not want it to become "some sort of religious ghetto" but that it should be engaged with "what really happens". It would be "a professional religious and social affairs station," he said.

Currently the group was looking at the experience of Radio Chretiennes en France, based in Lyons. It involved five Christian denominations and had been on-air since 1982. It broadcast throughout 50 dioceses in France and Belgium.

The station's programming schedule was 30 per cent Christian faith, 25 per cent social and cultural, 15 per cent news, and 30 per cent music.

"It sounds like they've done what we would want to do," Father Dardis said.

He said that as the FM waveband would have power of just one kilowatt the group had also expressed interest in applying for community licences in north Dublin, Wicklow and east Kildare.

These would allow the station to cover the entire archdiocesan area, which has a population of approximately 1.3 million. It would be based at Maynooth, where broadcasting facilities exist at the Kairos studios, and would broadcast initially for 12 hours a day.