Meeting will discuss reviving Ballina Community Radio
A meeting will take place in Ballina next Wednesday to gauge interest in reviving Ballina Community Radio.
BCR FM ceased broadcasting in February 2025 due to a lack of funds and efforts are currently underway to create a new community station for Ballina and the north Mayo area.
The station was home to a number of well-known regular broadcasts such as ‘Rock On’ with Joe Hennigan, ‘Raised on Songs & Stories’ with Tara Doherty, which lives on as a podcast and Paul Dickson’s ‘Box of Delights’.
Eric Barrett, who presented ‘Local Sounds’ on BCR FM, told the Western People that he helped to organise the meeting to see if there is enough interest among the community to bring back their local community-led station.
Eric said his ambition would be to create a community station comparable to CRC FM or CCR FM.
“When you hear other communities doing things, you want to do it yourself. We really admire what is being done at CRC FM in Castlebar and CCR FM in Claremorris,” he said.
“There are a number of former DJs who would love to bring their shows back on the air in Ballina and we want to see what interest is there.
He said that if the station is revived or a new one is established, he is confident there is a space in the current media landscape for BCR FM.
“Social media would be a driving force for listenership and the hope would be that you could get local businesses behind you to help create a voice for the town,” he said.
“It is something that could offer a different voice. For example, a sports show that could offer coverage of local sport that might not be available on Sky. You could get that on Community radio.”
The meeting takes place in the Merry Monk next Wednesday, February 25 at 7.30pm.

