SOME 70 years ago, the Bandon-born Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Mr J.J. Walsh, officiated at the inaugural broadcast of Radio Eireann in Cork, call-sign 6CK.
For the past week, local radio in the city has been marking the event with feature material spanning those years, but also with insights into what Cork has to offer in the modern era.
The outgoing director-general of RTE, Mr Joe Barry, was in Cork for the celebrations and officiated at the opening of the Irish Museum of Radio.
The museum is located at the Women's Gaol in Sunday's Well, where 6CK was born hi 1927. On that occasion Mr Walsh addressed what he described as the growing "but unseen" audience.
The core of the museum is in the same studio which was used for the opening seven decades ago. It contains original microphones, gramophones, music stands, taped and pictures of those early years and much more besides. The local station in Cork was RTE's first venture outside the capital, and in the intervening years its output has been pivotal in following the progress of the city.
The museum, says RTE, will demonstrate the impact of radio on all our lives, showing elements of nostalgia shared excitement, laughter and celebration.