New Irish language radio station launched

RAIDIÓ X, a new Irish language radio station aimed at young people, began broadcasting from its website yesterday morning.

The launching of the station was described by its working group as "the biggest potential advancement in the promotion of Irish among young people since the setting up of TG4".

The station is being run voluntarily by a working group set up by Conradh na Gaeilge and chaired by Lisa Ní Choisdealbha. She described the occasion as "a historic day" and said she was certain that the station would have positive results for the promotion of Irish.

Raidió X will broadcast for 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the website www.raidiox.com, with technical support from Digital Audio Productions.

The broadcasts are aimed at the 15/35 age group and the station was described by working group secretary Julian de Spáinn as Spin FM or 2FM "as Gaeilge".

Its early programming will consist of pre-recorded material with music, event guides and gossip. This will be expanded so that by the summer a schedule of live programmes should be in place. People such as presenter Hector Ó hEochagáin and comedian Des Bishop have expressed an interest in contributing to the programmes.

The Irish-American comedian has been learning Irish in recent months and plans to perform part of an upcoming gig in Irish. The station will also provide a platform to musicians who sing through Irish.

The station has been temporarily called Raidió X but a competition is under way to select a new name before March 17th.

Mr de Spáinn said that the station could either go down the route of being a Government-backed service like TG4 or down the commercial route of stations such as Spin FM.

He said there was an enormous amount of interest and he welcomed all offers of help from people interested in working as DJs or doing other tasks.

The station can be e-mailed at raidio@cnag.ie