This year sees the 20th anniversary of Nearfm. Many will remember the early days of North East Access radio, Nearfm 101.5 and then 101.6, and then our move to 90.3 We were the first to podcast, always at the cutting edge of techology, even the first to use WLAN links in our area, particularly for community radio. We've had many volunteers and staff come through the Nearfm doors, many who have gone on to national media, the BAI, further education, moved abroad. In fact, Near has people almost everywhere !! We are the most successful community radio station on Ireland. That is simply a fact, and the stats back it up. We are respected thoughout the community radio world, both nationally and internationally, We attract very high quality staff and volunteers, many who have been with us since 1995. So, whether you've been a guest for a few minutes, answered a phone, presented, produced,volunteered, staffed, can I just say thanks. In April I celebrate 30 years of my involvement with Near Media Co-op. It's been a blast. I'm looking forwarding to celebrating our community radio anniversary with year with you. And I'm looking forward to the coming years for all our community media platforms - across Near Media Co-Op
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
"Activism is the rent I pay for living on the planet."
-Alice Walker, author (b. 9 Feb 1944)
Happy Birthday Near!
Near will be turning 20 years this summer! To mark this milestone in the history of community media in Dublin and Ireland we will run a special event later this year, watch this space!
New Programmes on Near
Welcome to our new programme ‘Dramatic Dublin’ which will be presented by Alison McCarville . Dramatic Dublin is a new 8 part series exploring different aspects of theatre behind the scenes. This programme will be going out Tuesdays from 3.30-4.30 fortnightly in turn with Padraig Naughtons ‘Arts and Disability Radio’ which showcases the work of artists/companies with disabilities, and promotes upcoming events, aswell as music by Irish and international singer/songwriters with disabilities.
‘CU@LUNCHTIME’ is our new monthly programme broadcasting from 1-2pm on the last Thursday of each month. ‘CU@LUNCHTIME’ is supported by Members First Credit Union and is targeted at young adults aged 18-35. The programme is made up of a finance advice section, a gig guide, a story from the community as well as the monthly car draw announcement. This programme will be presented by N2D’s presenter Mark Finnegan. For more details please contact cu@near.ie
New Perspectives on Irish History is a brand new 8 part radio series devised by John Haughton, which takes a unique look at how our ancestors viewed their natural environment and how different periods of history co-existed with the natural environment of our island. In this instance this series relates to the themes of Irish History, heritage, experience and the natural environment and will raise public awareness to a unique historical perspective. Expert contributions come from Andrew St. Ledger of the Woodland League, Lord Ross of Birr Castle, Dara Molloy Celtic Priest, Padraigin Clancy expert in Celtic Mythology and Folklore and Professor Patricia Lysaght of the School of Irish, Celtic Studies, Irish Folklore, and Linguistics, University College Dublin, among many others. The series uses narration, music, poetry and voxpops to bring the themes under analysis to life in an entertaining and engaging manner.
Nearfm have produced a ten part radio series reinterpreting the Dublin: One City One Book ‘If Ever You Go: a Map of Dublin in Poetry and Song’ edited by Pat Boran and Gerard Smyth.This series takes a unique look at the book from a northside Dublin perspective by focusing on the poems, poets and songs associated with Northside Dublin.
The series features many well known poets reciting and being interviewed about the poems they have featured in the book including Paula Meehan, Theo Dorgan and Dermot Bolger as well as up and coming poets such as Colm Keegan, Jessica Traynor and Alan Jude Moore.
Contributions also come from Poetry Ireland, Dedalus Press, Dublin City of Literature, Trinity College Dublin and St David’s Boys National School in north Dublin. There are also well known ballads performed by Gerry Cooley, Vincent Smith and Stephen Heffernan.
New Perspectives and If Ever You Go were both made with the support of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland Sound & Vision Scheme.
Near were successful with two Sound & Vision radio projects in round 23. Exploring with Tom Creane and Novels, Play and School days. Both projects are educational in format and we will be working with local primary, secondary and adult education schools this Spring, with provisional broadcast dates for the Autumn 2015.
Near Media Co-Op has also been funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland to build a dedicated digital archive for a section of our output, namely the content of Northside Today, between the years 2009 and 2013. The archive will be built in three stages and with the input of some expert partners including Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI), Dublin City Libraries and Archive and CRAOL.
Friends of Near is a way for you to support the community work of Near Media Co-op. As you may be aware we source funding from many varied strands as we do not get regular or ring-fenced state funding. While we have been fortunate to be able to draw on different grants from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) and other sources we are always looking at innovative ways of getting a regular income, and also a chance to get our community more involved. And so, we’d like to introduce Near’s new project Friends of Near , which we think will give friends and family the chance to actively support the community media work we love doing. You can join Friends of Near by committing to a donation €5 per month on a continuous basis. Anyone can become a Friend of Near such as the listeners of your programme or family and friends - so please tell them about this exciting project. Please email friends@near.ie or ring Joe at 01.8671190 for more details.
European Funded Projects
‘YouEdit EU’ (Young Editorial Teams Europe) is one of the Erasmus+ projects we are working on this year. Starting in late February we will work with a group of young adults that study in Coláiste Dhúlaigh to produce programmes with a focus on Irish and European identity and current affairs. This is a joint partnership project in conjunction with community radio stations in Hungary (Tilos Radioin Budapest), Spain (Radio Valekas in Madrid) and Germany (Radio Wuestewelle in Tuebingen). If you like further information please contact dorothee@near.ie or ciaran@near.ie
EurEval
As you may be aware, one of our sister community radio stations WDAR, West Dublin Access Radio, is no longer operating. They had been part of an Erasmus+ funded project called EurEval. Due to closing of the station Near is taking on their role to work on this project together with 9 partners in Europe. Part of this project will involve a reference book to facilitate the ‘Jobs skills Portfolio’ booklet that had been designed in a previous project. We will also meet to exchange best practice in training and arrange for meetings to learn from other community radio stations. If you like further information please contact dorothee@near.ie.
We are currently working on a new monthly magazine show which, will be online at the end of the month please go to www.neartv.ie or more info
Soon to be released
Clontarf 2014 The Vikings is a one hour Documentary on the Millennium Celebrations of the Battle of Clontarf. It will be released in early 2016.
Sean O’Casey, 50 years after the death of Sean O’Casey his works are being produced by local community groups in the Dublin docklands where he spent most of his life. This short documentary will capture some of the works that are being produced by the local community.
Upcoming Training with Near
The next Neartv training will start on the Wednesday 25th March. This short training course give a practical introduction to community media and Television production(6 days) no experience in TV is necessary. Once you have completed the training you can become a volunteer with Neartv. For more information on the training please go to www.neartv.ie/training
Nearfm volunteer induction course is taking place over February and March for people that would like to get involved with near. If you would like to sign up for the next course please get in touch with dorothee@near.ie .
Other CO-OP News
Irish girl guide leaders from all over the country will be coming to the studios of the Near media Co-op to learn how to package an interview from outside locations to send to the relevant community station nearby. In addition to working on the desks in the studios we will make use of the recording devices of smart phones for audio and visual documentation.
Transition Year students come to Near
During February and March we will be working with a number of transition year students from Coláiste Dhúlaigh and will record some of our youngest voices living in the area.
Upcoming Outside Broadcasts
If you would like to organise a programme to go live from outside the studios please get in touch with dorothee@near.ie. We love hearing about new ideas and places to broadcast from.
